Naia looks composed and calm…angry, even. But underneath that, there’s something else. The fear is subtle and not exactly overwhelming, yet it’s there, and even someone as intense as her can’t hide it.
For the first time in her life, she’s stepping into something completely unknown. No matter how much she fights it, everything waiting for her will have to be addressed one way or another.
I don’t call it out, and I don’t push either. Instead, I stand there beside her, letting the quiet settle in hopes of her eventually realizing that I’m not her enemy, as I’ve been trying to get across this whole time.
As complicated as everything has become, I want it abundantly clear that she’s not going back to the island alone. Not now, and not ever again if I can help it.
And whatever this bond turns into, whatever it means, I’m not walking away from it.
Not this time.
Chapter 14 - Naia
Delmont isn’t what I expected, and it’s far from the ghost town I had last seen it as.
That’s the first thing I notice as we leave Coldreach after getting off the ferry and head further inland through the trees and hills.
I thought it would feel empty and forgotten, like it did the few times I moved through the area in the past, like one of those places people abandon when things go wrong and never come back to. To me, it had only ever been an area full of half-demolished buildings that trees and underbrush had long overtaken.
But it’s not anymore. Now, there’s movement and life.
It isn’t chaotic like Wraith Peak, but it feels rebuilt and almost purposeful.
After Zane parks on the main street, we get out to look around, and I slow slightly as my gaze sweeps over everything.
Buildings that should’ve been leveled and left are now repaired. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a far cry from how it used to look.
There are other shifters around, and humans, of course. In places other than Wraith Peak, they tend to make up the bulk of the population, which I never really understood.
Why invite humans to live among you when they’re the ones you need to hide from? None of them live far enough north to bother us, at least.
Regardless, everyone is walking the streets, some working, some standing in small groups talking in low voices. It’s not socially structured the way back is. There’s no obvioushierarchy on display, and no immediate tension humming beneath the surface.
It feels different in general.
Zane doesn’t say anything as we walk, but I feel the way his awareness sharpens and his posture shifts just slightly. Instead of being tense or on edge, he’s grounded and confident.
This is his place, and that realization settles strangely in my chest.
I glance at him to take in the way he moves through the space. People notice him with something quieter and more trusting than immediate submission or rigid respect, which is what I’m more used to.
It makes something twist in my stomach because I didn’t think he would actually build something like this. I imagined him taking over an established place like some kind of conqueror and bossing everyone around like he’s been doing to me.
Instead, it looks more like he has taken something that once seemed useless and turned it into a functioning place…a town where his people can live their lives safely.
And then I see a familiar face, and I stop.
Without missing a beat, Zane notices, and he glances back at me. “What is it?”
I don’t even bother trying to answer yet, as I stare across the street and watch a man leaning against the side of a building, as if he belongs there. It’s someone I recognize from home.
From Wraith Peak.
The younger shifter straightens when he sees us, and his gaze locks onto Zane first, then it moves to me. Immediate recognition floods his features, followed by obvious caution.
He knows exactly who I am, too, and it makes my chest tighten with a feeling I don’t fully understand.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
