She goes quiet again, not at all reacting how I expected she would, especially given how much smoother things have been going for us lately.
My chest feels tighter as I take her in, and my brows pinch together. “Why does that bother you?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Naia.”
“It doesn’t,” she repeats, but there’s an edge to it now, and it’s obviously a lie.
“It clearly does.”
She shakes her head slightly. “You’re reading into it too much.”
“Clearly, I’m not,” I mutter, watching for every small change in her features, onto her now.
Naia looks at me squarely now with both frustration and resolve in her eyes. “I just got here, Zane. You expect me to just…fall into place and act like this is where I belong?”
If I were standing, that would’ve made me stagger, but from my place in bed, I recoil at the suddenness of her change in tune. “You do belong here.”
The words come out without hesitation because to me, it’s obvious. She’s my mate. Even if we didn’t start on the right foot, I have every intention of making this better for both of us.
Her expression hardens. “That’s exactly the problem.”
I blink. “What?”
“You keep saying things like that,” she continues, voice rising slightly. “Like this is decided, and everything is just supposed to fall into place because of the bond.”
“It’s not just the bond,” I argue, feeling every second of her pulling away from me.
“Then what is it?”
“You’re here, and you’re part of this now.”
“I didn’t choose this.”
The claim settles in my skin like ice, and I feel my end of the bond react in response, more tense and on edge now. “What does that mean?”
Naia’s jaw tightens. “It means I’m not done. I’m not just going to forget everything that happened and play house here while you figure things out.”
There it is…the part I’ve been trying not to focus on. Even if I knew it would come up eventually, I was hoping it wouldn’t.
“You’re still thinking about going back,” I murmur, staring at her with subtle disbelief.
When she doesn’t deny it, frustration builds in my chest. “Naia—”
“I’m not done with Wraith Peak,” she says, cutting me off before I can plead my case. “I’m not done with what they did, or how Hayes changed things once he became Alpha.”
“And the rogues?” I press, feeling as restless energy courses through me. “You think running back there alone is going to fix that?”
“I don’t plan on doing it alone.”
“That’s exactly what it looked like the last time you tried to leave.”
The anger in her eyes takes over now, erasing any trace of softness. “That was before I realized how much you were planning to keep me out of it.”
I stop, missing a piece of the equation. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re handling this,” Naia says, mimicking my tone from earlier. “You’re dealing with the rogues, working with your pack and friends, but where do I fit into that, Zane?”
