“Gray—”
I can’t. I can’t stay.
She takes another step forward, close enough now that I can feel the warmth radiating off her.
Her voice is a whisper.
“I love you.”
My claws scrape the floorboards, the air thick with her scent—vanilla, fear, want.
The shift slams into me.
No warning. No choice.
One moment I’m standing on four legs, and the next I’m gasping, stumbling forward as my body tears itself back into human form.
It hurts—fuck, it hurts—but I can’t stop it.
I collapse to my knees, hands bracing against the floor, my entire body shaking as the transformation rips through me.
“Gray!”
Bree drops beside me, her hands on my shoulders, steadying me as I struggle to breathe.
“I’ve got you,” she murmurs. “I’ve got you.”
I gasp, my vision blurring as I finally—finally—come back.
My hands.
Human hands.
I stare down at them, trembling, and something breaks inside me.
“I didn’t think…” My voice is raw, barely recognizable. “I didn’t think I could.”
“But you did.” Her hand cups my face, forcing me to look at her. “You came back.”
I shake my head, tears burning at the corners of my eyes. “I don’t know if I can stay.”
“You don’t have to hold it,” she says firmly. “You just have to be here. Right now. That’s all I’m asking.”
I close my eyes, leaning into her touch.
“I thought if I couldn’t stay like this, I couldn’t be what you needed.”
“You’re wrong.” She pulls me closer, her forehead pressing against mine. “What I need is you. All of you. The parts that are easy and the parts that are hard. The human and the wolf. All of it.”
“Bree—”
“You were there for me in the Void,” she says, her voice breaking. “You were there for me every single day before it. And you’ll be therefor me after. That’s who you are, Gray. That’s what I count on. Not your form. You.”
Something inside me cracks wide open.
“I love you,” I manage, my voice breaking on the words.
“I know.” She smiles through her tears. “I love you too. Always.”
