That somehow seems safer than whatever this is becoming, and whatever I’ll inevitably be forced to confront, despite how complicated it seems.
Chapter 11 - Zane
Something about this almost feels normal, and that’s what throws me off the most.
For a few minutes, longer than I want to admit, it’s like nothing changed. Like we’re back in Wraith Peak, sitting just outside the training grounds after a long day as she vents and I listen, while the outside world is nothing more than a backdrop.
I’d forgotten what that felt like. Or maybe I didn’t forget, and I just buried it instead to make my escape easier.
Naia stands a few feet away now, flexing her fingers like she’s silently communicating with the abilities inside her. There’s a different kind of focus in her expression that seems less like sharp-edged anger and more like concentration. It suits her, almost too well.
I get more comfortable on the sofa while I watch her. “You had decent control for someone who doesn’t have much experience with it.”
She huffs lightly, like she’s caught between doubting herself and wanting to believe it. “Barely.”
“I half expected you to burn the building down by now, so I’d say you’re not doing too badly.”
“That’s not saying much,” she says, corners of her lips pulling faintly.
“It’s still progress.”
She glances at me, like she doesn’t know what to do with that, but she gives me one decisive nod. With a gentle breath, she sits back. “I guess it isn’t much different from controlling our inner wolf…except it’s entirely unknown to me.” Then, herbrows furrow slightly as a new thought hits her. “Why are you so accepting of magic?”
I shrug. “I’ve met a few magic-users recently, and they helped me see it doesn’t have to be unpredictable or destructive. It can be used to protect, rather than to wreak havoc just for the sake of it.”
At that, something closer to recognition crosses her features, and her voice reaches me quietly. “You mean Sera?”
My eyes narrow a bit at that, then it sinks in that Sera had spent some time in Wraith Peak against her will before she met Luke. They obviously have some kind of history. “She’s one of them, yes.”
The way her expression drops a bit is more telling than she likely realizes, and as curious as I am, I don’t push. Instead, I study her through another brief pocket of silence, wondering where she falls in all of this.
In a black-and-white context, Naia is supposed to be the enemy. At least, she is so long as she follows her brother’s orders, as she once did for her father. But from what I’ve gathered, she isn’t exactly the pack favorite, and now that she possesses magic, who knows the kind of target that would be put on her back if she returned.
The thought alone makes me bristle on the inside, even as I try to push it aside.
The quiet between us feels like the closest thing to a bridge we’ve had this whole time, but it’s fragile, and I mistake that understanding for an open mind from her.
“You don’t have to go back,” I say before I can hold the words back, and the shift is immediate.
I see it happen in real time…the way her shoulders stiffen, and that softer edge disappears like it was never there. Here we go.
Her gaze finds mine, narrowed like a predator’s. “What?”
With a breath, well aware of what I’ve just uncaged, I sit forward in my place a bit, hands clasped together. “You don’t have to go back to Wraith Peak.”
Her expression hardens, turning impassive all over again. “We’re not doing this again.”
“I’m not saying it to control you,” I continue, attempting to help her see things differently. “I’m saying it because you have an out now.”
“I don’t need an out.”
I scoff to myself. “Yeah, you do. You should take advantage of it while you still can.”
“Surprise, surprise,” she mutters, looking both disappointed and annoyed like I’ve missed the point entirely. “You weren’t listening at all.”
“I was listening. I am”
“Then you’d understand why I need to go back.”
