A sharp cry tears from me, paws curling in agony.
Reach for me, Toby.
His voice is as soft and as clear as if he were standing right here. From my memory, maybe? I can’t make sense of it, but I lean into it. Needing his warm reassurance almost as much as I need his arms around me.
I think of the cinnamon apple tart he’d given me on my first day here. The movies we’d watched on his enormous beanbag. How we used to curl up there for hours, just talking like nothing else existed. The way he’d hold me through a nightmare. Rowen saw pieces of me then, before I even saw them myself.
I think about the cameras they’d given me, and the darkroom where we shared our first kiss. Those gifts weren’t just from Rowen, but Jasmine and Ivy too. Cherished things they trusted me with before I could even trust myself.
Then, there were the gingerbread houses and watching Rowen smear icing in his hair. Or sleeping as a pack around the tree on Christmas Eve. I had truly felt like I belonged that night. Still a stranger, a human in a mix of shifters, but somehow, a part of them too.
All those moments healed me. Not just with Rowen—but with all of them. The pack. My family.
They took me in, even knowing I could be a danger to them. They protected me, cared for me. Loved me. They never once tried to discourage the bond forming between Rowen and me. If anything, theyencouragedit.
They trusted me.
And I betrayed that trust.
I shattered it. Literally choked it with my bare hands.
Pain lances through me.Oh, Rowen. I’m so sorry.
The tether trembles again, grief rolling through it like thunder. Rowen is feeling the loss just as sharply.
I tug at it, he tugs back. Like a hug. But a broken one.
That’s my mate. My fated one. The person the universe chose for me, despite my half-blood heritage.
Was I always meant to find him then? To land here? Fall in love with the dark-haired wonder?
If so, did fate account for this epic mistake? How do I earn his forgiveness? Is it even possible?
Without warning, the tether pulls taut, sudden and sharp. Fear spikes through it—Rowen’s fear—and adrenaline floods my veins.
I snap my head up when wolves howl in the distance.
Slowly, I crawl out from beneath the bush, shaking out my fur. My ears twitch, straining for any sound. Far off through the trees, red flashes of light illuminate the forest. Snarls echo through the night.
Fury burns white-hot within. My lips curl back, and I snap at an unseen enemy.
My family is under attack.
I don’t need to be there to know who it is. I can feel the rage storming from the other side of the bond. Rip is here, and he’s ready to claim what is his.
But he is very mistaken.
I am not his. I amno one’s.
My heart belongs to Rowen, but my body, my mind, my soul—those are mine. And I will never let him hurt me again. Or anyone.
Especially them.
Especially him.
I take off towards the house.
I’m coming, Ro.
