“—can’t let her near the sanctuary,” Jace is saying.
“We’ll need to establish a perimeter,” Rhett adds. “Make sure—”
Heat flares through the room—Rhett’s magic responding to rising tension.
“Bree shouldn’t go anywhere public until we know—” Rhett starts.
My hands curl into fists in my lap. The black threads in my Ether pulse, responding to the rising anger, the crushing disappointment.
Chairs scrape as people shift, voices building over each other.
“We could use the Feeders underground as—”
“Stop.”
Theo’s voice cuts through the chaos like a blade.
Everyone turns to look at him. He’s staring at me, his dark eyes wide with something like horror.
I shift in his lap to face him fully, and his arms tighten around my waist—not holding me back, just… holding me.
“What are we doing?” His voice shakes. “We literally just got her back and we’re doing this again?”
Silence crashes over the room.
“Doing what?” Rhett asks, confused.
“This.” Theo gestures at all of them, then at me. “Talking over her. Deciding for her. Planning her life like she’s not sitting right there.” His jaw clenches. “Like we didn’t lose her the first time because we kept secrets and made decisions she deserved to be part of.”
The words make my breath catch.
I watch understanding dawn on their faces—Rhett’s confusion shifting to guilt, Jace going very still. Even Gray’s wolf form lowers its head, ears flattening against his skull.
“Bree—” Rhett starts.
“She deserves our trust,” Theo says, his voice rough with emotion. “Our respect. Our complete and utter transparency. Not our protection at the cost of her agency.” He looks at me, and there’s something raw in his expression. “I’m sorry. We’re sorry.”
The apology sits in the air between us.
I don’t know what to say. Part of me wants to accept it, to let it go because I’m so tired of fighting. But another part—the part that spenta year alone in the dark—knows that apologies without change mean nothing.
“I hear you,” I say finally, my voice quiet but steady. “But I need more than sorry. I need you to actually stop doing it.”
“We will,” Wes says softly. “I swear we will.”
“Show me.” I meet each of their eyes in turn, including Gray’s silver wolf gaze. “Don’t tell me I’m part of this and then leave me out. Don’t make decisions for me and call it protection.”
They nod, various expressions of shame and determination crossing their faces. Gray’s wolf form approaches slowly, pressing his massive head against my knee—an apology in the only way he can offer it right now.
Auren’s eyes shift to Seth, and something careful enters his expression.
“You should know,” he says quietly, “I’ve been tracking missing persons cases tied to the Void for decades. Helping families when I can.” He pauses. “Your family reported you missing twenty-five years ago, Seth.”
Seth goes very still. His face drains of color.
“Twenty-five…” He can’t seem to finish the sentence. His hands start to shake.
“I’m sorry,” Auren says gently.
