CALEB
The sound of Evan calling out my name is enough to haunt me for the rest of my life. Reminding me how I wrecked his heart and rejected him when he needed me the most. But I’m running out of time.
There are only six hours left on the clock before my father will be back to collect me and demand that his orders have been met.
I could have stayed there for longer, but it would only have delayed the inevitable. He might have talked me out of it if I watched another tear leave his eye, but now I know there is no choice. To keep him alive, I had to reject him, leave him, break him—and my own heart in the process.
When I leave the infirmary and try to push out the sounds of his desperate pleas to come back, I’m cornered by Jaxon.
“Caleb—”
My fists tighten, and I want nothing more than to send them flying into the wall in frustration.
“Protect him,” I murmur heavily. “Please. Do anything you can to make sure he’s okay.”
“We can do something.”
I clamp my eyes shut and shake my head. “We can’t,” I say as I bite down on my jaw. “There isn’t enough time, and I’m not risking his life.”
“But to go with your father?”
“I have no choice!” I bellow, my voice echoing off the walls. “I’ll figure something out, but Evan needs to stay away. If he tries to leave to find me or plan anything, you have to stop him. My father will tear him to shreds if he thinks he’s coming back.”
Jaxon’s chest heaves, but not nearly as fast as mine.
“And you can’t look for me either,” I state. “If he even gets a whiff of someone trying to save me, then he’ll go straight to Evan to punish me, okay? You need to keep him safe.”
He stares at me for a long moment before nodding. “Okay.”
“I’m not giving up,” I say as I swallow. “But I have to do this. I’ll be back. I know it. Keep an eye on him. I don’t want anyone else dying for me. I have to be the one to take him out.”
“I hear you, Caleb,” he says solemnly. “I’d do anything for Ava.”
My nose tingles as I wrinkle it. “We’d do anything for those we love, even if it’s painful.”
Before I know it, Jaxon draws me into a tight hug, and I exhale a sharp breath despite feeling crushed inside. My wolf is crying, but so am I.
It’s soul-destroying. To watch his face as I said those words. It’s something that’ll be ingrained in my memory forever.
“We’ll always have your back.”
“I know.”
When I leave Jaxon’s pack to head home and prepare myself for whatever my father has planned, nausea washes over me. I’m disoriented and hollow.
No matter how much I know it’s the right thing to do, it’s not easy to accept. Evan might hate me, he might never forgive me, but I know for a fact I will find him again. He’s my only reasonfor living at this point. It’s only the beginning; we didn’t have nearly enough time.
The moment I arrive back at my pack house, it’s obvious the dynamic is off. We lost some of our wolves in the attack on Ryker’s pack, but now they all know he was here last night and what happened to Evan.
Felix and Zara greet me, and without saying a word, they bring me into a tight embrace. They take me upstairs to my office for some privacy, where Carson and Aimee are already waiting.
“We’ve been making a plan,” Felix says sharply.
“No.”
“What?”
“I said no.”
