“Get the fuck back.”
Tristan spun toward the sound, his breath catching.
Bryce stood at the edge of the clearing, feet planted wide, eyes locked on Nico. A raw, warning growl vibrated in the back of his throat.
For the first time, Nico hesitated. His weight shifted, barely a twitch, but it was there. Then his face smoothed out again.
“Relax,” he drawled. “I’m just here to pick up my property.”
Bryce’s gaze snapped to Tristan, then to Colby, still standing firm between Tristan and Nico. And beneath Bryce’s fury, Tristan saw something else—fear, as he calculated the angles. Nico was too close. He could get to Tristan before Bryce could reach him, and Colby, brave as he was, might not be enough to stop him.
So Bryce didn’t move, but his stillness wasn’t passive. It was that of a predator, every muscle tight, waiting for the one, clean opening that wouldn’t risk Tristan. And his words were all the more lethal for their restraint.
“You need to get off our land.”
Tristan had never seen Bryce like this, full of cold, bitten-down fury.
“You have no business here, and you sure as hell don’t get to take Colby with you. He’s one of ours.”
“He’s mine,” Nico said. Calmly, like he was stating a fact. “He’s coming with me.”
“He’s really not,” Bryce said, his voice low and dangerous.
Nico tore his gaze from Bryce to study Colby once more, who stood silent and still. Tristan could almost see the calculations behind Nico’s eyes—Bryce was poised and ready to attack, Colby was still refusing to submit to him, and he didn’t have a hope in hell of getting to Jesse right now. Whatever advantage he’d thought he had was gone.
And then something in Nico’s posture changed, became softer, more open. Tristan stiffened. He didn’t know what move Nico had up his sleeve, but he knew it scared him.
“Come with me, Colby,” Nico said, his voice gentle. “We can go. Just you and me, like we’re meant to be.”
The words settled into the silence, soft but heavy. Tristan was shaking his head, willing Colby not to listen. Nico made it sound so easy, so tempting, like surrender was peace. Like giving in would mean no more struggle.
Colby didn’t say anything. But Tristan saw his reaction in the way his breath hitched, his body swayed.
That promise must have meant something, once. It had been a lie, but a beautiful one. And for a second, Tristan saw just how badly Colby must have wanted to believe it.
Which made his stillness now all the more powerful. It was hard-won and quietly unbreakable. And Tristan, watching him hold his ground, felt a fierce, aching pride.
“Get out,” Bryce said, his voice deep, with a tension running through it that said his patience was done.
Nico’s smile was supposed to look confident as he turned away, but something behind it looked oddly like pain. There was no trace of it, though, in his voice as he spoke over his shoulder to Colby.
“You’ll come back to mebeggingwhen they find out what you really are.”
And then he disappeared swiftly and silently into the trees. Almost as if he’d never been there at all.
Without warning, Colby staggered. He caught himself on a tree trunk, his chest heaving for air that didn’t come.
Tristan was at his side in an instant and held on, until Colby could remember how to breathe.
Chapter Thirty-eight
COLBY
Matt and Karl were at the kitchen table, mugs and plates in front of them. The normality of it, the everyday comfort, made what had just happened feel even more unreal.
Colby’s ribs ached, and his jaw throbbed. But mostly, he just felt bone-tired. Like even moving was too much effort.
Matt’s eyes rested searchingly on each of them as they came in. Once Bryce had closed the door, he spoke. “Tell me.”
