He’s scared for me. Maybeofme. And I can’t blame him. I’d be scared too, if it were me.
Maybe this is what Rip wanted all along—to use this connection to single me out. Make the pack turn on me. But if so, then he underestimated one thing. A pack doesn’t turn on their own, and this family has made it clear I am one of theirs. Even angry, none of them have forced me to leave.
Now it’s time to act like I deserve to be here.
Whatever that means.
32
ROWEN
Idon’t remember slamming the door, but the sound still rings in my ears. The hallway shudders with it. By the time I hit the back porch, my lungs are already heaving, my pulse hammering so hard it hurts. The air outside is sharp and cold, and I drag it in like it might wash the fury out of me.
It doesn’t.
My skin’s too tight, my wolf clawing under it, demanding release. The tether between me and Tobias vibrates with every breath—alive, pulsing, infuriating. I can feel his guilt, his confusion, his fear. And underneath all of it, that cursed brand pressing through the bond like a parasite.
I hit the ground hard, paws sinking into mud. The woods explode around me—wet earth, pine, the metallic tang of my own rage. I run. Branches whip against my fur. Every step a snarl, every breath a growl. I don’t think. I can’t. The fury burns too hot to contain.
Sage and Grant catch up within minutes. I hear their paws pounding behind me, steady and strong.
Sage calls through the pack link, his voice edged with worry.Rowen, slow down.
I ignore him.
Rowen.His voice sharpens.You’re going to hurt yourself.
I slow to a stop in a small clearing, chest heaving, claws digging trenches in the earth.What do you even want? Leave me alone, Sage.
Grant reaches me first, standing ten feet away, almost like he’s afraid to get any closer.
Sage walks right by him, coming up to me. I snarl at him, but he doesn’t back down. Almost like he knows I need to let it off my chest.
He’s bonded to him,I spit, the words tasting like blood.That bastard branded my mate, and now… it’s not just a mark! It’s a fucking bond! He’s in his fucking head!
Grant exhales.We don’t know what that means yet.
I growl at him.It means he’s MINE! Whenever we find the vamp, he’s mine! And Tobias—My throat tightens and I turn away.I just wish he’d told me.
Sage sits in front of me.He’s scared, Rowen. You felt that.
I don’t care if he’s scared.The lie burns before it even leaves me.He should’ve told me! I can’t protect him if he keeps secrets like this.
Sage whines.You really think knowing would’ve stopped what happened?
It could’ve!
Maybe, but maybe not. We didn’t know Rip was shifting into a raven.His voice drops low.Fear doesn’t erase instinct, Ro. It twists it. Tobias thought he was protecting you somehow. He didn’t hide this because he wanted to hurt you.
I know that!I snap at him. Birds scatter, startled by the sound.But it doesn’t make it any easier to stand there and watch him. He’s been suffering right in front of me. Refusing to let me in. And to see that mark on him, someone else’s mark? When Toby won’t even let me claim him?
The last few words come out like a whine, pain ripping through me.
Sage doesn’t move. He knows this kind of fury. Knows the way it coils in your gut until it eats you alive.It’s also why you’re feeling everything so intensely; remember that.
His blunt honesty just enrages me further. Doesn’t he think I know that? Iknowit’s the mate bond making me feel like a live wire. My wolf doesn’t understand why we haven’t claimed Tobias yet. But there’s not much I can do about it until Tobias wants it.
Shifting, I slam my fist into a nearby tree. My knuckles crack, yet I pound it again and again until I smell blood. It doesn’t help. Nothing does.
