I won’t.
And then, I say it. The three words that are an open door to chaos and change we won’t come back from. The three words my brothers won’t be able to ignore.
“They’ve chosen her.”
Of course, the words land hard.
Kane paid witness to Holland’s intention tonight, and Cal’s heard the curiosity at the rink with his super hearing himself, but my saying this—putting this fine a point on the endgame—dials the stakes up to an eleven.
Calloway straightens. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“How?” Cal asks. “We haven’t been keeping an eye on Holland for that long. We haven’t been—”
“I don’t need long,” I cut him off. “I don’t need proof, Cal. Iknow.”
Calloway’s eyes narrow. “How?”
I drag a hand down my face. “Our…pairing. You know how it works.”
“Technically, wedon’tknow how it works,” Kane interjects. “At least, not specifically. You’re the first to fall to this particular fate, brother, so why don’t you enlighten us?”
Fuck me.I shake my head. “I justknow, okay?”
Kane’s gaze sharpens. “You’re tracking him.”
“Tracking who?” Calloway asks. “Holland? He’s just a gofer doing gofer things.”
“No, Cal. He’s a gofer who’s circling,” I correct. “And he doesn’t circle unless he’s told to. And right now, he’s circling Kylie. So yes, I’m tracking him.”
It’s an admission steeped in a million brutal consequences. It doesn’t matter if she’s fated to me or that they’re usurping our bond.Our kindisn’t supposed to tracktheir kind. It’s not just illegal; it’s a death sentence.
Kane lets out a low whistle. “Well, shit. I guess our stepping in tonight was a little more complicated than messing with a Fighting Fang, then, wasn’t it?” He groans. “Blood of the fucking three, my dear holiness, we are so fucking far up shit’s creek, it’s not even funny.”
“I didn’t plan to put you in that position,” I say. “I didn’t plan any of it. To be honest, I didn’t even realize I was doing it at first.”
“How?” Calloway asks, defaulting into containment mode. “How are you tracking him? Is it traceable? Phone? GPS?”
I shake my head. “Nothing like that.”
“Then how the hell do you know what he’s saying to her?”
The answer isn’t clean—and saying it out loud makes it worse. But clearly, we’re long past keeping things to myself now. I’ve put us all in the crosshairs.
“I feel it,” I admit sheepishly. “When he pushes. When she hesitates. When something shifts.” I clear my throat. “I can hear her thoughts if I let myself, too. It’s…like we’re one instead of two.”
The silence that follows is thick.
“Fuck me.” Calloway exhales slowly. “You’re…locked in.”
Kane folds his arms. “You do realize what that means.”
“Yes,” I say, resigned to my own body’s decisions.
“And you’re doing it anyway.”
“Yes.”
