When the door eventually shuts behind me with a quiet click, the noise fades, along with the tension and the weight of their stares. It all dulls to something more manageable, but it doesn’t disappear completely.
Leaning back against the door for a second, I close my eyes and take a deep, slow breath.
That could’ve gone a lot worse, but it still wasn’t good. I still don’t know what they plan to do with me now that they know I’m here with Zane.
I push off the door and move further into the house, pacing several times as I try to fight off the tightness in my chest. The frustration and restlessness have gotten even worse since leaving the apartment, and now the lingering sting of being seen exactly the way I expected to be only makes it worse.
To them, I’ll only ever be a Voss. Someone unredeemable and bound to choose wrong.
As I stop near the window, I stare out at the small town. In his town, because that’s exactly what this is.
Zane built this place and community, and they trust him. Even when they’re questioning him and even when they’re pushing back, they still trust him. I’ve never had that luxury, not really, anyway.
In Wraith Peak, trust is conditional, earned, and taken away just as quickly. It’s always tied to what you can offer and what you can prove you’re capable of providing. I spent my whole life proving myself to my brother and the others, and it still wasn’t enough.
Zane’s friends see me as the enemy, and maybe they’re not wrong to, but the strange part is, I don’t feel that way about them.
When my father was alive, it was different. Every line was perfectly drawn, enemies were enemies, and there wasn’t room for anything else. But he’s gone, and while Hayes carries that same fire, the same need to dominate and control, I can see it now in a way I couldn’t before. I don’t feel it the same way he does, and that realization makes something shift in me.
If I don’t feel that, then what does that make me? What’s the point in fighting when they don’t have anything I need?
Initially, I was furious when they killed Dad, but something in me can’t entirely blame them either. He didn’t back down even when he was warned about what would happen. Even in the moment, it didn’t feel entirely right to storm into Coldreach, but I did it for him, just like everything else.
I exhale slowly, dragging a hand through my hair.
It doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that I can’t stay here. I can’t sit around and wait while everything back home is still unresolved. I can’t hope for someone to clear my name for me.
No matter what I do here, and no matter what I say, I’ll always be a Voss first. That’s what they’ll see and remember.
If I don’t deal with that, it will never change.
A small headache forms behind my eye, and I rub at my temple as the decision settles in.
Ignoring it, I turn away from the window and move through the house with purpose. I keep my movements efficient and focused because once I start, I don’t stop.
The bond hums faintly in the back of my mind like a quiet reminder that Zane is still within reach, but I bury it as far as I can. More than anything, he only stands to complicate things in ways I don’t have time for.
I don’t know what I’ll be walking back into in Wraith Peak, or what it’s going to take to fix any of it, but I’m not letting my family name decide who I am. Not anymore.
Even if it means enduring more pain just to prove it.
Chapter 17 - Zane
“Are you going to tell me why else you’re here, or were you just planning on lecturing me?”
The words don’t disguise just how irritated I am by all of this, glancing between the small group gathered around me. After hearing how they spoke to Naia like a criminal, I’m on edge.
“That was the bulk of it, but there’s more,” Hunter says, arms crossed now with a serious expression.
“We’ve been tracking movement around the island since you’ve been gone, and we’ve seen more wolves drawing closer. Rather than sticking to the deep woods or skirting borders, they’re closer now.”
“Closer, how?” I ask.
“Close enough that it’s not random,” Caleb answers. “They’re taking bigger risks and pushing in.”
Hunter exhales sharply. “And we still don’t know if it’s Hayes or the rogues.”
“It might not be one or the other, either,” Luke adds, looking vaguely concerned. “That’s the problem. We just don’t know.”
