What did happen on the ice? It was weird and fucked up, but now wasn't the time. I wanted to reach out, but the memory of his father’s words was fresh. Binding, rebinding, control. Like he was worse than dangerous, like he was a bomb waiting to gooff. I knew what that felt like. Growing up, a lot of foster placements expected that. For you to detonate.
“You’re not some monster. You took care of me when you should have thrown me out."
"So you'regrateful?" he whispered the words.
"Of course I'm grateful, but that's not why I'm here." He didn’t answer, just looked down as if he was ashamed. I hated it. I wanted him to look at me, to see the truth of it, but I didn’t push.
The others hung back, silent. I could feel their eyes on us, but they didn’t interrupt.
Finally, Cole dragged in a breath. “I can’t go back. Not yet. If he brings that elder here, it’s over. They’ll shut me down so hard I won’t even remember my own name.”
I frowned. “What does that even mean? What do they do?”
He glanced at me, then away. “It’s like… I don’t know. If you try to stuff the whole world in a bottle and then screw the cap on until it cracks. That’s what the binding feels like. You can’t breathe, but you have to pretend you’re fine. And if you ever slip, even a little…someone gets hurt.”
My chest went tight. “You never hurt me. Not once, even when I deserved it.”
He shook his head, rough. “Not yet. But I will. That’s what they do. They get in your head, they twist it, and then you’re just collateral damage. You, the team, everyone.”
I wasn’t going to let him spiral. I wasn’t.
I reached out, just enough to let my hand brush his arm. “You’re not alone. Keegan said so. You’re not the only one.”
That got his attention. He blinked at me, then over at the truck, where Keegan and Ignatius stood, both stone-faced and weirdly gentle at the same time.
He swallowed. “I thought I was. My whole life, I thought I was.”
Cole
I stood at the edge of the cliff, my heart pounding so hard I thought my ribcage would crack. Ignatius’s face hovered in my vision—his mouth a hard line, but not in anger. I recognized something else there: disappointment. Maybe even shame. Not at Phoenix. Not at me. He shook his head.
“You should never have been bound like that,” he said quietly. His voice carried across the thin air. “That’s not what our kind does. It’s what people who fear us do. Your father was wrong, Cole. He was wrong then, and he’s wrong now.”
Every muscle in me clenched. My jaw felt ready to splinter. The heat beneath my skin still roiled, begging for release. I played the scene over and over—my arms pinned, my power throttled by those cruel restraints.
Keegan edged closer, shoulders hunched, hands shoved deep in his pockets. “My uncle’s right,” he said, his grin half-soft. “You’re not alone. Not anymore. And I don’t think we’re the only ones like this on the team.”
My gaze shot to Keegan in astonishment. Him, clearly. But how did he know? Did being bound mean I couldn’t recognize this in others?
“You’re not a monster,” Ignatius continued, stepping forward so his calm presence steadied me. “You’re not broken. The binding your father forced on you—it was nothing but fear and control. That’s cruelty, Cole, not power.”
My voice came out ragged. “He said it was the only way. That I’d kill someone if I didn’t let him do it. I hurt someone at school.”
Ignatius shookhis head, slow and deliberate. “But I’m assuming you didn’t know your heritage? You should have been prepared. First shifts aren’t dangerous when they’re helped by someone with experience, and I’m guessing you don’t have that? Your father? Mother?”
Cole shook his head. “They said it was a dangerous genetic condition inherited from my grandfather who died when I was barely five.”
Ignatius arched an eyebrow. “That’s rare—to skip a generation.” His next promise anchored me: “You’ve clearly done some research on your own, but you’re not alone, Cole. Not ever again. Not unless you choose to be.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding—for years, it felt like. “I don’t want to be alone. Not anymore.”
“Good,” he said. “Now step away from the edge before you give your true mate a heart attack.”
True mate.That phrase crushed me with its strangeness. I felt Phoenix’s eyes on me—his confusion, his fear for me. He still didn’t understand. I didn’t understand myself other than what I’d overheard my father say when he thought I wasn’t listening.
But I moved. I stepped back. Keegan hovered, ready to catch me if I fell. I didn’t look away from Ignatius until we all turned for the truck. He held the door open without another word. Keegan drove his and Ignatius drove mine.
The drive down the mountain was silent and calm—nothing like the emptiness I’d felt on the ice rink after the game. Phoenix climbed in beside me, touching. He still hadn’t asked the million questions I expected, maybe he didn’t want to know.
