With him, I’ve wanted to lean in from the very beginning. Even before I knew what he was to me. My wolf was drawn to him, trusted him.
I just needhimto trustme.
At the top of the stairs, my bedroom door is closed, but the light under it is glowing white. I twist the knob and push it open carefully. Tobias is sitting on the edge of the bed, head bowed, his fingers tangled together like he’s trying to hold himself still. The lamplight paints shadows down his neck, across his shoulders. He doesn’t look up when I enter, but I feel the shift, the bond tightening between us.
I stop a few feet away. Rain taps softly against the windowpanes.
“I should’ve told you.” His voice is so faint, so hollow. “Not about today, because that’s… I didn’t have time to tell anyone, but before, I mean. With the voices.”
My chest tightens. “I wish you would’ve.”
He winces, like the words cut, but he nods. “I know. I’m sorry.”
I move closer until I’m standing right in front of him. The air between us buzzes faintly, like the bond is coaxing us to get over this madness and just seal everything already.
I can feel the heat radiating from him, the way his energy hums under the surface. He’s holding it in, like he’s bracing for something.
His eyes are rimmed red, but dry, when he finally looks up. “I don’t want this, Ro.”
I recoil. “What?”
“Him! I don’t—” His face crumples. “When I heard him in my head, I thought it was just me. That I was imagining it. Forest and Taren were right there, yet I couldn’t… I didn’t want to say it out loud because everyone would’ve just thought—” He rubs his neck. “I don’t know what’s worse. Wishing the voices were just my half-blood saying I’m turning into my mom, or knowing I have some mind link to a fucked up vampire.”
I swallow hard, watching his fingers twist the blanket.
“All night I’ve been thinking, if only I’d spoken up, if only I’d said something, maybe Ivy wouldn’t have—”
“Stop.” I sit beside him on the bed, careful not to crowd him. “It’s not your fault.”
“It feels like it is. You guys have done everything to help me since I got here, and when it came down to it…” He shakes his head. “You deserved better.”
Tobias doesn’t look at me as he pulls his sleeve up. My eyes widen when I see the mark. It’s twice as dark now, glowing red. I grit my teeth, hands clenching into tight balls.
“When did this happen?”
“Today. I noticed it after you left. I think he’s made it stronger somehow, and that’s how he… fuck, I don’t know. I’m just guessing. But he’s never been in my head like he was today, Rowen. I swear to you.” Tobias sounds terrified. “And he’s still in me. Still watching. Waiting. I can feel it. Like a thread I can’t cut.”
I stare at the horrible red light, my jaw tightening. The burn of it makes something primal rise inside me. My wolf snarls, thirsty for blood. But there’s nothing to fight, no immediate threat.
Just a curse burned into my mate’s flesh.
“Maybe we can cut it?” I say. “Maybe if—”
He laughs once, finally looking at me. “Tried that. Didn’t work.”
“What? When?”
“After you left, I stabbed myself with one of Red’s scalpels. He had to heal me.” He sounds so defeated, like he truly believes we won’t get through this. It scares me.
“Toby.” I reach for his hand before I can stop myself. His skin is cold. I can feel his helplessness, his despair. “We’ll find a way to break this.”
He shakes his head. “You guys keep saying that, but don’t you get it? There is no way to break this. He bound me for life. It’ll only break when one of us dies.”
“Then I’ll kill him.”
He lets out a jagged breath, threading our fingers together. Slowly, he lifts them to his lips, holding them there with his eyes closed. That gentle touch, that kiss is everything to me. Finally, my wolf settles, if only a little.
For a long moment, neither of us speaks. The storm outside grows louder, wind sweeping against the walls. The sound of it fills the silence between us.
