It was everything.
Neal brought Cal to the doorway at some point in the night. Cal smiled at me, I blew him a kiss back. When the first gray light of morning crept through the reinforced window, I finally let myself think about what had happened.
Stone had lost control completely. Shifted into something monstrous. Nearly killed two people. Would have killed Cal if I hadn't intervened.
And I'd walked straight into it.
I should have been terrified. Should have felt the survival instinct that made the staff press against the walls, made Cole raise his rifle, made everyone scream at me to stop.
I hadn't.
The bond wouldn't let me.
That was what I told Stone, and it was true. The connection between us was so deep, so fundamental, that the idea of leaving him in that state was physically impossible. My body wouldn't cooperate. My heart refused.
But it was more than that.
Even without the bond, even if I'd been a normal human with no connection to any of this—I would have done the same thing. Because Stone wasn't a monster. He was a man who'd beenbroken and put back together wrong, fighting every day to be something other than what they'd made him.
He deserved someone who wouldn't give up on him.
I looked at him now. Asleep against my shoulder, hand still gripping mine, face slack in a way it never was when he was awake. He looked younger like this. Softer. The hard lines of tension smoothed away.
This was who he was underneath it all. The man I'd glimpsed through the bond. The one worth fighting for.
Chapter eight
The council's response came three days after Stone's breakdown.
Rae called me to her office to deliver the news. She looked exhausted—dark circles under her eyes, hair escaping from its usual neat bun. Alexandra's latest drawing was taped to her desk, a crayon family portrait with a purple wolf in the corner. Under different circumstances, I would have asked about it.
"The council is requiring a full assessment of the feral program," Rae said. "Given what happened with Stone, they want documentation. Protocols. Proof that we're handling this responsibly."
"It was an accident." The words came out sharper than I intended. "No one could have predicted a staff member would trip and throw a tray at a sleeping feral. That's not a failure of the program."
"I know that. You know that." Rae sighed. "The council sees a feral who gravely injured two people. They want answers."
"Stone isn't a liability. He's recovering. He was recovering until—"
"Lumi." Her voice was gentle. "I'm on your side. But the council doesn't care about context. They care about risk."
I bit back the argument rising in my throat. She was right. It didn't make it easier to swallow.
"Cole's been asked to conduct the inspection and submit the report," she continued.
I nodded. That tracked. He'd been evaluating everything since he arrived anyway.
"There's a complication," Rae continued.
I waited.
"Twilson has requested to assist with the inspection personally."
The name landed like a stone in still water.
"Why?"
"He claims it's standard procedure. The Frosthaven Academy administrator needs to participate in reviews of high-risk programs." Rae's jaw tightened. "But Twilson doesn't do anything without an agenda. And we both know what his agenda is here."
