The admission hangs between us like a blade. Because he’s right, and we both know it.
“Levi—”
“I also know he’ll break your heart,” he continues, his voice hardening. “Because that’s what nomads do. They take what they want and move on when it becomes inconvenient. And when he does, I won’t be here. I’m not going to pick up the pieces.”
Anger flares in my chest, hot and protective. “You don’t know him. And I’ve never needed anyone to hold me together, Levi. I’ve never asked you or anyone else to pick up the pieces. I’m not broken, and I don’t need rescuing.”
His jaw tightens, but I’m not finished.
“Real friendship isn’t something you withhold and use as a weapon when you don’t get what you want. What you’re doing right now—this resentment, this bitterness because I can’t return your feelings—this isn’t the Levi I know. This isn’t my friend.”
I step closer, my voice growing harder. “My friend would want me to be happy, even if it wasn’t with him. My friend wouldn’t try to manipulate me with guilt and ultimatums when his feelings weren’t reciprocated. And my friend sure as hell wouldn’t stand in my quarters insulting someone who saved my life just because he’s jealous.”
The words hit their mark—I can see it in the way he flinches.
“I know his type. I’ve seen a dozen wolves like him over the years—charming, dangerous, completely unreliable when it matters. They’re addictive until they’re not, and then they’re gone.”
“I don’t recognize this version of you,” I continue, my voice softening with genuine hurt. “The Levi I know is better than this. He’s honorable and kind and puts the pack’s needs above his own desires. But this wolf standing in front of me? This wolf is letting his wounded pride turn him into someone I don’t want to be around.” I point at the door. “Get out.”
“Lithia—”
“I said get out.” My voice carries the full weight of my Beta authority, and he steps back as if struck. “This conversation is over.”
For a moment, I think he’ll argue. Then his shoulders slump slightly, defeat flickering across his features.
“I love you,” he says simply. “That’s not going to change, no matter how many nomads you take to your bed. But I can’t wait around for you to work that out. Once this mission is over, I’m leaving.”
“Levi—”
He shakes his head. “I’ve told you what I want, Lithia. Now the choice is yours.”
But there is no choice.
I close the door and lean against it, my hands shaking with residual anger and just a touch of fear. Because part of me—the part that remembers every loss, every betrayal, every moment of abandonment—whispers that he might be right. That Kier will leave eventually, and I’ll be left with nothing but regret and the memory of what it felt like to want someone completely.
A whisper touches my mind. Our bond.
He’s our mate,my wolf whispers.He’ll stay.
I know, with bone-deep certainty, that whatever Kier is, he’s not the kind of wolf who disappears when things get difficult.
I swallow, my decision made.I’ll tell him after the mission.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Restlessness coils through my limbs making it impossible to stay still. I’ve tried lying down, tried reading, tried organizing tomorrow’s mission gear for the third time. Nothing works. The walls of my quarters feel like they’re closing in, suffocating me.
Tomorrow we hunt monsters. Tomorrow I lead my pack into danger, knowing some of us might not return. And tonight, I’m hiding in my room like a coward, too afraid to cross two doors and claim what my heart demands.
Pathetic.
My wolf stirs beneath my skin, impatient with me. She knows what she wants—has known since the moment we heard his voice through the prison wall. She’s tired of my excuses, my fears, my stubborn refusal to listen to what every instinct is screaming.
Go to him, she demands.End this.
I push to my feet, decision crystallizing. Enough.
