I scoff, disbelieving as I watch her move. “That’s it?”
“For now.”
“Naia—”
“I need space,” she mutters, already heading for the bedroom door.
“We’re not done talking about this,” I tell her, feeling myself fray at the edges despite trying to maintain the image that everything is fine.
“I am.”
Naia doesn’t look at me again, and she doesn’t hesitate. She just walks out the door, and for a split second, every instinct in me screams to go after her. To stop her and drag her back into this conversation until we actually fix something.
But I don’t. Instead, I sit here with my hands clenched in my lap, forcing myself to stay put.
This time, I know chasing her won’t help.
She needs space, even if every part of me hates letting her have it.
Chapter 24 - Naia
I don’t stop walking until the sounds of Delmont disappear behind me, leaving me with the birds and insects for company.
The trees close in, thick and familiar, and the scent of earth and pine grounds me in a way the town never can.
My shoes crunch over fallen branches as I keep my pace brisk and fueled by the anger still burning hot in my chest.
Zane’s words echo anyway, lingering in the back of my mind against my wishes.
You’re part of this now. You belong here.
My jaw tightens as it punctures my heart.
I hate how easily he says it, as if I can just step into a new life and leave everything else behind. As if I don’t have unfinished business tugging me back home.
The bond pulses faintly like it’s restless and mirroring the tension twisting inside me. Zane’s aware of me and where I’m going.
I can feel his focus as he searches down the connection, like he’s waiting for something to snap, or for me to run.
A bitter huff leaves me, and I reach for him down the bond, regardless of wanting space.
I’m not leaving.I push down the connection to him. The attempt is clumsy but intentional, given how rarely I flex this ability between us.Relax.
There’s a flicker of resistance melding with concern, as if he doesn’t fully believe me.
I need space, I add, more firmly this time.I’ll be back.
Just be careful.
The tension doesn’t disappear, but it eases just enough that I know he heard me. That he’s trying, albeit reluctantly, to respect it. I’ll take it because if he shows up right now, I might actually hit him, and not in a way he’d enjoy.
I keep moving deeper into the woods and further away from everything that’s starting to feel too tight and far too complicated.
My surroundings swallow me whole with shadows stretching longer as the sun dips lower. The air cools, brushing against my skin, but it doesn’t touch the heat coiling in my chest and surrounding me like a shield.
Finally, I slow when my legs start to protest, and when the anger shifts into something that feels harder to outrun.
In a small clearing, I stop and feel as my breath comes in harder than it should. For a long time, I just stand here with nowhere else to go. I have no distractions left, nobody to argue with, and no one to push against.
