"She'd say we forced her into it," Caleb said quietly, something pained flickering across his scarred features.
"She'd be right." I didn't flinch from the truth, didn't look away from his eyes. "We did force her. Took her choice away, claimed her against her will, refused to let her go. But that doesn't change what she feels. Doesn't change what she is."
"And what is she?" Caleb asked, his voice barely above a whisper, his ice-blue eyes dropping back to Ava's sleeping form.
I looked at Ava, really looked at her. The fierce set of her jaw, even in sleep. The stubborn line of her brow. The way her hands curled into fists against the pillow, ready to fight even in her dreams.
"She's the strongest person I've ever met," I said quietly, my voice thick with emotion I rarely let show. "Strong enough to run from everything she knew. Strong enough to survive alone for three years. Strong enough to fight us even when her own biology screamed for surrender." I paused, something tight in my throat. "She's strong enough to love us, eventually. If we're patient. If we prove we deserve it."
"Do we?" Caleb asked, his deep voice rough. "Deserve it?" The question hung in the air, heavy with implication.
"No," I admitted, the word bitter on my tongue. "Not yet. But we will. We'll spend the rest of our lives earning it, if that's what it takes." Caleb nodded slowly, something settling in hisexpression. Acceptance, maybe. Or determination. His massive shoulders squared, his jaw setting with resolve.
"I made her something," Caleb said quietly, his voice softening. "Before her heat. I was waiting for the right moment to give it to her."
"The wolf?" I asked, already knowing the answer, having seen him work on it night after night.
"You knew?" Caleb's ice-blue eyes widened slightly with surprise.
"I saw you carving it. Nights when you couldn't sleep." I smiled slightly, warmth creeping into my voice. "What made you choose a wolf?"
Caleb's scarred face softened, something vulnerable and hopeful flickering in his eyes. "Wolves mate for life. Once they choose their pack, they never leave. They'll die to protect what's theirs." He looked at Ava, something raw in his gaze. "She's like that, even if she doesn't know it yet. Loyal to the bone. Once she accepts us, really accepts us, she'll never let go."
"And if she never accepts us?" I asked, voicing the fear none of us wanted to name.
"She will." Caleb's voice was certain, his jaw set with conviction. "She already has, somewhere deep down. She just needs time to realize it."
I hoped he was right. God, I hoped he was right. Ava stirred again, more purposefully this time. Her eyes fluttered, her body shifting beneath the blankets, fighting its way toward consciousness. Her breath changed, quickening, her brow furrowing as awareness crept in.
"She's waking up," Caleb said unnecessarily, his massive body tensing, his hands gripping his knees.
"I know." I braced myself, preparing for whatever came next—anger, fear, shame, hatred. Whatever she threw at us, we'd take it. We'd weather the storm and come out the other side.
Her eyes opened. For a moment, she just blinked, disoriented, her green gaze unfocused and confused. Then awareness flooded in, where she was, who she was with, what had happened—and I watched the memories crash over her like a wave.
The heat. The claiming. The biting. The way she'd begged for more, offered her throat, told us she loved us.
The purring. Her face crumpled, her features twisting with horror and shame.
"No," Ava whispered, her voice cracking, her eyes squeezing shut, tears already gathering at the corners. "No, no, no?—"
"Ava." I reached for her, my hand finding her shoulder, my touch gentle despite the urgency pounding through my veins. "Sweetheart, it's okay—" She flinched away from my touch like I'd burned her, scrambling backward until her back hit the headboard with a thud, her eyes wild, her breath coming in panicked gasps that made her chest heave.
"Don't touch me," Ava hissed, real fear in her voice now, real horror contorting her features, her hands raised between us like a shield. "Don't—I can't—what did I?—"
"You didn't do anything wrong," Caleb said softly, his deep voice gentle despite her obvious terror, his massive body carefully still so as not to frighten her further. "The heat is over. You're safe now."
"Safe?" Ava laughed, the sound sharp and broken, scraping out of her throat. "I begged you to bite me. I told you I loved you. I—" Her voice cracked, tears spilling down her cheeks in hot streams. "I purred. Oh god, I purred."
"That's nothing to be ashamed of," I said carefully, keeping my voice calm despite the pain in my chest, my hands open and non-threatening at my sides. "That's what Omegas do when they're content. When they feel safe with their pack."
"You're not my pack!" Ava screamed, her voice ragged and raw, her green eyes blazing with fury and fear. "You kidnapped me! You locked me in a concrete cell! You—you—" She pressed her hands to her face, sobbing, her shoulders shaking. "I don't know what's real anymore. I don't know what I actually feel and what you made me feel. I don't know anything."
I exchanged a look with Caleb over her head. This was what I'd predicted, the shame, the confusion, the anger directed inward. She wasn't fighting us right now. She was fighting herself.
"Everything you felt was real," I said quietly, not moving closer, giving her the space she desperately needed. "The heat didn't create those feelings, Ava. It just removed the barriers you'd built to hide them."
"That's not true," Ava sobbed, her words muffled by her hands, her body curling in on itself. "That's not—I don't love you. I don't. The heat made me say things, made me feel things?—"
