When the heaving stopped, I rinsed my mouth, splashed water on my face, and caught my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Pale. Dark circles. The kind of face that made people ask if you were okay and then not believe the answer.
I made it outside before the compound fully woke. Dawn patrol had just rotated, and the eastern tree line had a fifteen-minute window before the next sweep. I knew because I’d been counting.
Percival was exactly where I expected him to be.
“You look terrible,” I said to the shadow behind the cedar.
“You should see the other guy.” He stepped out. Thinner than last time, clothes torn, dirt under his nails. But grinning. Always grinning.
The grin lasted exactly two seconds. Then his nostrils flared, and his eyes changed. The warmth didn’t leave but it darkened, focused, tracking across my skin and clothes.
“Who’s the man?” Casual tone. Not casual eyes.
“What?”
“A man’s scent.” His jaw tightened. “Someone’s been close to you. Recently.”
“Just my training partner.”
“Training partner.” He gritted his teeth.
“Percival. Stop that and focus on my words. They doubled the patrols. Motion sensors on the eastern ridge. If they catch you again, they won’t put you in a cage this time.”
The jealousy wrestled with the worry across his face.
“I’m the fastest wolf in Veyndral, Mira. One of the best warriors of our kingdom. I know I don’t act the part, but I can when I need to. They’re not catching me.”
“You say that while looking half-starved with a torn jacket.”
“Fashion choice.”
“Percival.”
“I’m fine.” His voice softened. Dropped the act the way he only did when it was just us. “And for what it’s worth, Lucian and Solomon... they’re not sitting on their hands. I know them. They’ll be working the problem from their side even if they won’t admit it.”
The names hit wrong. They always did now.
“Working the problem.” I crossed my arms. “That’s what we’re calling it? After the three of you rejected me. Muted the bond and left me. And now I’m supposed to trust that somewhere on the other side of a magic portal, they’re strategizing on my behalf while I’m here, in this place, trying to figure out if I’m more hunter or more mate or more broken?”
Percy didn’t interrupt. He absorbed it. The way he always absorbed things, behind those warm eyes that tracked every shift in my mood.
“They come and go,” I said, quieter now but no less angry. “All three of you. You show up, you turn my world inside out, and then you leave. And I’m expected to just... understand. Every time.” My jaw ached from clenching. “I need to sort this out on my own. My bloodline, the bond, what I even want from any of this. I can’t think clearly with you circling my perimeter.”
“You don’t look good, Mira.” No humor this time. Just the raw truth of a man watching the woman he loved deteriorate. “This is the rejection. It’s physical. Me being here won’t fix everything, but it helps. You know it does.”
He was right. The nausea eased when he was close. The tremors in my hands calmed. The bond, muted as it was, still reached for his presence the way a drowning person reached for a surface.
Which was exactly why he needed to leave.
“You make it harder for me to think.” I held his gaze. Made myself hold it. “And right now I need a clear head more than I need relief. I want you gone, Percival. Out of my sight.”
The nausea surged and the next words came out before I could filter them.
“Every time you show up here, you put both of us at risk for nothing. You’re not helping me. You’re making yourself feel better about leaving in the first place.” My voice cracked on the edges but the venom held. “So stop lurking in my tree line and playing guard dog for a woman who didn’t ask for one. I’m not your mission. I’m not your redemption project. Go.”
Percival went still.
His expression didn’t crumble. Percival wasn’t the crumbling type. But the light behind his eyes dimmed, and the grin didn’t come back. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.
