“You owe me everything, Callahan,” he said, and the formal use of my last name cut deeper than any curse could have. “Every fucking detail.”
I nodded and let the change take me again, bones flowing like water as my wolf form surged to the surface. The pain was sharper this time, transformation forced too fast and too often, but I gritted my teeth and endured it because walking back to the pack house on two legs would take too long and leave too many opportunities for Nate to change his mind.
As a wolf, I was faster. Stronger. More capable of protecting him from whatever complications came next.
Even if I couldn't protect him from the truth.
I shifted backto human form at the tree line, pulling on the jeans I'd left hanging on a low branch before our run. The fabric felt foreign against skin that was still buzzing with wolf-fire, but at least I wouldn't have to face this conversation completely naked.
Small mercies.
“Inside,” I said, gesturing toward the house that had been my sanctuary and was about to become my tribunal.
Nate followed, camera still clutched in hands that shook slightly despite his efforts to appear calm. I could smell his fear beneath the anger, could hear his heart racing as we climbed the porch steps that creaked under our combined weight.
Dad was waiting in the main room, standing by the massive stone fireplace with a glass of whiskey in one hand. He looked older in the lamplight, steel-gray hair catching the glow and lines carved deep around eyes that had seen too much and forgiven too little.
Behind him, scattered around the room like pieces on a chess board, sat the rest of my life. Jonah perched on the arm of the ancient leather sofa. Alaric leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed and a smirk that promised trouble, looking like he was about to enjoy whatever show was about to unfold.
“So,” Dad said, voice carrying the kind of calm that preceded either wisdom or violence. “The Harrington boy finally saw.”
It wasn't a question. Of course it wasn't. Dad had probably smelled Nate's scent on me the moment I'd walked through thedoor, had probably known this conversation was coming from the second I'd decided to break from the pack and chase after a human with a camera and too much curiosity for his own good.
Nate's spine went rigid, and I watched color flood his cheeks as the full implications of Dad's words sank in.
“You all just... watched,” he said, voice tight with fury. “Watched me stumble around completely clueless while you knew exactly what I was missing. How long have you been laughing at the oblivious human?”
“Hollow Pines has rules,” Dad replied, settling into his usual chair. “We protect our own. You weren't ready to carry this burden.”
“I was ready to be trusted.” Nate's hands clenched into fists, camera strap cutting into his knuckles. “He—” A sharp gesture in my direction. “—was supposed to be my best friend. And you all just watched me stumble around in the dark, making an ass of myself trying to understand why this place felt different.”
“You want to blame someone,” Alaric said from his position against the wall, “blame your boyfriend here for being too much of a coward to tell you the truth.”
“He's not my boyfriend,” Nate snapped, but the correction came too fast, carried too much heat to be entirely convincing.
Alaric's smirk widened. “Right. My mistake. Though that does raise interesting questions about why Evan risked pack security to bring you here instead of just letting you run home screaming.”
A growl started low in my chest, wolf pressing against the inside of my ribs. But Dad raised one hand, and the sound died in my throat like he'd physically reached out and crushed it.
“Alaric,” he said, voice carrying enough Alpha weight to make everyone in the room sit up straighter. “You'll keep your observations to yourself unless asked.”
But the damage was done. I could see it in the way Nate's jaw tightened, in the careful distance he put between us as Alaric's words sank in. Because bringing him here had been a risk. A massive, potentially catastrophic risk that could expose not just me but the entire pack to consequences I didn't want to think about.
And I'd done it anyway, because the alternative—letting him walk away with questions I couldn't answer and pain I'd caused—had felt like dying.
“You brought him here,” Dad continued, turning those steel-gray eyes on me that had been making me squirm since childhood. “That makes this your responsibility, son. His knowledge, his reactions, his safety—all of it falls on you now.”
“I'll handle it,” I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded when everything inside me felt like it was coming apart at the seams.
“See that you do,” his Dad said. “Because if this goes wrong, if his knowledge puts the pack at risk, the consequences won't fall on him alone.”
The threat was subtle but unmistakable, and I felt my wolf bristle with protective instincts that had nothing to do with pack hierarchy and everything to do with the human standing beside me with fury radiating from his skin like heat.
“Are you threatening him?” I asked, taking a step forward before I could stop myself.
Dad's expression didn't change, but something shifted in the air between us.
“I'm reminding you of your responsibilities,” he said. “And hoping you're mature enough to handle them.”
