Later, I stop in the hallway without meaning to.
My foot catches on the edge of the runner, and for a split second I almost stumble forward. I steady myself against the wall, already turning to retreat.
Then I hear my name.
"...because of Vee."
Marie's voice cuts through the door, sharp and strained, and my body goes still. Every instinct I have flares at once—don't listen, don't stay.
I stay anyway.
"You promised to bond with me," Marie says, her words tumbling over one another, volume climbing. "And you haven't yet! You said you would. Jasper is waiting too. It isn't fair to either of us to have to wait because of her."
My stomach twists.
I press my shoulder lightly against the wall.
Ragon answers after a pause, his voice lower, steadier.
"I will bond with you, Marie. But it isn't the right time."
"That's not what you said before. You said you wouldn't make me wait forever."
"I said bonding requires stability. You need to learn patience."
There's a brittle laugh. "Patience? For what? For her to decide she's done playing fragile?"
My throat tightens.
"And empathy," Ragon adds, his voice sharpening just a fraction. "Which you are not showing right now."
The silence that follows is brief but loud.
"Empathy? Why should I have empathy for someone who doesn't even want to be here? She doesn'twantthe bond. She doesn't want the pack. She doesn't want you. Not anymore."
Each sentence feels like a small, precise cut.
I swallow hard, nails digging into my palm. A part of me wants to flee. Another part needs to know what he'll say next.
"Vee is not ready to bond yet," Ragon says, and something in his tone shifts. "And I won't upset the balance any more by bonding you before she's ready to bond as well."
The words echo in my chest.
Before she's ready.
As if readiness is a thing I'm choosing. As if fear is a decision I can just make differently.
"So I just have to wait," Marie says, tight and resentful. "Again."
"Yes. You do."
Another silence stretches out, longer this time.
"This isn't fair," she says finally, quieter but no less sharp. "You're choosing her. Over and over."
"I am choosing the pack. And that includes you both."
The door suddenly yanks open.
