I shiver at the thought. “Get out of my fucking head!”
He tries again.Come.
“NO!”
The sensation snaps hard, searing me with white-hot anger. I clap a hand to the back of my neck and grit my teeth. “Isaidno!”
Grant watches me in his wolf form, eyes narrowed. A few yards away, two more wolves stalk closer. The tension in the yard crawls under my skin like ants. That’s all they do now. Watch me. Every day. Every hour.
Like I’m a live bomb.
“You hear that?” I snap at the wolves. “Leave me the hell alone!”
I go inside and slam the door, sinking into a chair. I don’t dare look around. Everyone probably witnessed my screaming. I can’t help it. I just hate Rip so much that I can’t stop saying something back.
But to what point? If anything, I feel Rip’s amusement every time. Like he knows I’m losing myself. And I can’t even fight back.
Lean into your shifter side, Toby. Trust it. You can do this.Rowen’s words from this morning drift back to me, filling me with a deep, empty ache.
Instantly, the back of my neck prickles, fingers raking against my skin. It silences Rowen.
He doesn’t get it. None of them get it. There is no happy ending in this for me. I’ll either lose myself to Rip or I’ll lose myself to the half-blood.
There is no in-between.
I click through the photos on the camera, desperate for something to ground me. But even the sound of the button grates on my nerves. It’s not just the camera; it’severything.The footsteps upstairs, the creak of the dining chairs, even the hiss of the coffee maker.
Maybe I need earplugs. But deep down, I know it won’t help. It’s like Rip has given me his heightened senses too because I hear it all. Feel it all. It’s inside me.
I rub my temples, wishing I could end this. Everything is wrong. Tastes wrong, feels wrong, sounds wrong. Even the house seems smaller, like it’s breathing with me, orforme. Like it’s trying to suffocate me.
You don’t belong here.
My heart skitters. That hadn’t sounded like Rip.
Pain throbs behind my eyes, and my limbs are heavy from exhaustion. I haven’t slept more than an hour since we learned what Rip was doing. Every time I close my eyes, I see him. Or the club. Or worse—the gallery. The broken glass. The streak of my blood across the floor.
That shame burns hotter than the pain ever did. How could I ruin something that is so valuable to them?
They’ll never forgive you. They’re angry with you.
I want to cry. I don’t know if it’s Rip’s voice or my own. It could be either.
Ivy joins me in the living room, holding a sandwich out. “You should eat.” Her soft voice isn’t as rough as everyone else’s, but it’s still grating.
I clench my hands into fists. “I’m not hungry.”
“Tobias, you haven’t—”
“I said I’m not hungry! Back off!”
Her eyes widen. Guilt flashes—no,hunger. Thirst. Whose thirst? My stomach twists. I can’t tell if it’s mine anymore.
Something darker presses into me—something I can’t name. The usual warmth I feel in Ivy’s presence is gone. The sound of her breathing is suddenly unbearable. I twitch away.
“Stop mothering me,” I say.
“I’m not—”
