“Right now, you’re not my enemy, regardless of what pack you belong to,” he says, guiding me out the door and through the abandoned parking lot. “I’d suggest taking advantage of that.”
The words and implications settle between us, feeling all too complicated and dangerous.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” I mutter, walking through the relative darkness with him despite wanting to be far away.
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
The unfamiliar city surrounding us only makes me feel more lost and more uncertain of what to expect.
For all of the faith I’ve put into my father and Hayes, I don’t know what comes next. I’ve always had a path, a role, and a purpose, but now that uncertainty seems to have no intention of leaving.
Chapter 3 - Zane
I don’t know what the hell came over me.
I’ve replayed the moment in my head at least a dozen times since we left the warehouse, and even now, it doesn’t make any sense.
In the past, I’ve walked away from worse. Operations that went sideways, from people I couldn’t save regardless of how hard I tried, and from situations that forced me to use restraint over instinct. That’s what I was trained to do.
Acting on impulse was how you got yourself and others killed. Instead of listening to that philosophy, I bid millions for someone in a room full of dangerous people just because of one glance and a past I still haven’t escaped.
Naia sits with a rigid spine in the passenger seat, arms crossed, with her eyes fixed on the passing buildings like she’s trying to find and memorize a path back to the island.
My jaw tightens, well aware of how stupid it was of me to throw myself in the middle of the chaos and reveal my hand, all because it was her. If it had been some other wolf I didn’t know, maybe I would’ve stuck to the plan and gathered intel without inserting myself directly.
That shouldn’t have been enough to make me jeopardize my personal mission, but it was.
The second I saw her on that stage, angry, defiant, yet still unbroken, something clicked into place.
Before I could stop myself, I had already committed and made a move I can’t take back now. Still, it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done, and I’m not handing her back now, even if she plans on making this as difficult as possible.
Pulling in a breath, I sneak a glance in her direction while taking a turn. “Are you planning on glaring out the window the whole time?”
“I’m planning on ignoring you,” she mutters, not bothering to look at me. Figures.
I huff to myself. “You’re feistier than I remember.”
Without fail, that gets her attention, and her head whips in my direction. “Or maybe you just didn’t pay attention back then.”
The accusation settles in deeper than I want it to, because there’s truth in it.
I was leaving, even before I actually left. I was counting the days, planning my exit, and looking forward instead of focusing on what was around me. I wasn’t paying attention to anyone else but myself, her included.
Pushing the thought aside, I clear my throat. “Trust me, I noticed.”
Naia’s expression falters for a beat before hardening again. “Save it.”
As much as I wanted to think time wouldn’t change things too drastically between us, it obviously has. Those walls of hers are higher than they used to be, and while the girl I remember certainly used to push back, there had always been a lightness to it.
Rather than a challenging spark, this is something else. There’s a controlled fire in her, and those sharpened edges can surely cut if she’s provoked enough.
The military did that to me, and it seems Wraith Peak did the same to her.
Pulling into the underground parking of my building a few minutes later, I cut the engine, and for a moment, neither of us moves.
Then, Naia murmurs, “I’m not staying. Unlock the door.”
I look at her, not moving to do exactly that. “Not a chance.”
