“I could’ve taken them.”
“You couldn’t even get out of my grip.”
That stings, only because it’s true, and I scowl.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” I tell him, more serious now. “They took me, and I’m not just going to sit back and watch them walk away.”
His eyes narrow at me, more like he’s dealing with a petulant child than anything else. “And I’m not going to let you charge in without a plan.”
“I don’t need a plan.”
“Yes, you do,” Zane utters, not taking me seriously. “Given how you don’t seem to think so, that tells me all I need to know already.”
While my anger builds into something volatile in me, we stare at each other, and the tension snaps back into place like it never left.
“I had them,” I insist, hating how the thought of them getting away and continuing to use others gets under my skin. “I could’ve done something.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” Zane snaps, his voice quieter now but no less firm. His eyes betray just how angry he really is. “You were about to give us away.”
I open my mouth to argue, but I stop. Part of me knows he’s right again, and I hate that.
“You heard them,” he continues, facing me fully as he forces himself to calm with a deep breath. “This isn’t just about you. This is bigger, and you throwing yourself in the middle of it won’t help anyone.”
“I know that,” I snap. “Which is why I should be out there—”
“No.”
The word cuts clean through everything, both final and unyielding. It forces my hands to curl into fists again.
“You don’t get to keep deciding that.”
“I do if it keeps you alive,” he retorts, dark eyes just as determined as mine.
I glare at him in return, but he doesn’t back down. Knowing him, I’m not holding my breath.
His jaw clenches and unclenches, then he huffs and turns back toward the trail. “Let’s go.”
Regardless of his command, I don’t move. I stare at him, feet planted and prepared to protest.
“Naia,” Zane says, and when I don’t move, his expression drops. My name comes out sharper. “Naia.”
Something about the way he says it feels intimidating, and something in me wants to bend as a Beta would to their Alpha, but I force it down. He’s not my Alpha, and I don’t care about what he thinks I should and shouldn’t do.
“Next time,” I say quietly, my gaze still fixed on the trees where they disappeared while wave after wave of anger washes through me, “I won’t wait.”
His shoulders tense, but he doesn’t look surprised in the slightest. “Yeah. That’s what I’m worried about.”
I finally turn, falling into step beside him, but I don’t look at him, and I don’t bother to speak. I’m afraid that if I do, I might say something I can’t take back.
Or worse, I might admit that part of me is glad he stopped me.
Chapter 9 - Zane
I’m still pissed, and it’s the kind of anger that lingers under my skin and refuses to settle.
