***
Zane’s place is quieter than the rest of the town. While still within it, just far enough back to feel separate, the house is private and comfortable. Instead of being elaborate or obnoxious, it seems lived-in, unlike his apartment. There’s something about it that feels solid and grounded, like him.
I step further in, taking it in slowly. “You’ve made yourself at home here.”
“I had time.”
“Clearly.”
The door closes behind us, and just like that, the outside world fades into distant background noise, and the bond hits again.
Here, it feels stronger through the more intimate proximity, and it makes me squirm.
When I stiffen slightly, I turn away before he can notice. I’m not dealing with that right now, not when everything else is already unstable.
“Get settled,” Zane says like a more gentle command as he sets his keys aside. “We’ll figure out our next steps soon.”
That thought feels all too wrong, since I already know what my next moves are. Or at least, what they should be.
I move further into the space and set down the few things he got me in the city, without really thinking about it. This isn’t permanent, and I’ll make sure it isn’t, but for now, I have to bide my time.
At the very least, I’m on the island again and one step closer to returning home.
No matter what this place feels like, regardless of what he has built here or what that bond is doing to my head, I’m not his to direct.
Wraith Peak is still there, along with my brother, my pack, and the wolves who took me. Everything is still unresolved and unfinished, but I won’t leave it that way.
My fingers curl slightly at my sides as I try to keep every thought and emotion down. I don’t know what “fixing it” looks like, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to walk back into that and change anything, but I know that I can’t ignore it.
I won’t. Even if a part of me that I don’t want to acknowledge feels something else here. Something steadier that doesn’t demand I prove myself every second of my existence.
Pushing that thought away immediately, I know that’s not who I am, and this town isn’t where I belong.
Even if, for the first time, I’m not entirely sure what that means anymore.
Chapter 15 - Zane
The hammer hits the beam harder than it needs to, forcing it to crack into place with a sharp snap, and I welcome the sting that travels up my arm.
It gives me something simple to focus on. Something that doesn’t involve bonds I didn’t plan for, wolves I’m trying to protect from each other, or the fact that I’ve brought a Voss straight into the middle of everything I’ve built.
I drive another nail in, then another, and even if I’m completely lost in thought, at least I’ve made something in the process.
The frame surrounding me is almost finished, which means with the proper finishing work, we’ll have another house reclaimed from ruin, and another piece of Delmont put back together.
It should feel like progress, because it is. Every foundation reworked and refurbished into a newer, better home means strengthening the community that has been growing around me ever since a handful of people saw something in me worth following.
Instead, my mind keeps circling the same thing.
To Naia, along with the bond.
Regardless of how hard I try to push it aside for the time being, I keep returning to the same point, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do with either of them.
I never really saw having a mate in the cards for myself, and yet I have one who can’t decide whether she hates me or wants me. To make matters worse, nobody around me trusts her.
She has a name and a family that leaves a bad taste in just about everyone’s mouth, given what they’ve done in the past, and none of them know her like I once did. They don’t know the other parts of her that I’ve seen.
But even from here, not far from my place, I can feel her. It’s like she’s at one end of the tether, and I can feel every change of emotion. I can feel her frustration and determination, even if she’s being obedient enough to stay at the house without needing me to hover.
