Adrian
It's ridiculous that they would show up at my house and question me. They are wavering, and I know it's all my fault. I'm the reason why everything's a mess. I have been acting very rashly, and I need to get everything in check.
The front door closes behind two members of the council with a loud thud, and for a long time, I don't move. The sound of their voices echoes in the room. their warnings, their threats, their quiet promises of what will happen if I don't come forward.
I know the right thing to do is communicate about everything that's happened, but I still don't know what Jamie is. He was bitten, turned, and now, I can't understand what he is. I need more before I decide to show my weakness.
My claws ache under my skin. My wolf is pacing in my head. There are so many emotions running through me. There's a lot I feel, but the one thing I want is upstairs in my room and hes' fucking furious with me.
No one understands what I feel. They don't know what their fucking talking about. I didn't choose this. The moon, the goddess chose this for me.
Jamie isn't a mistake. He isn't a weakness. He's the only thing that makes sense right now, and that terrifies me more than I want to admit right now. I'm alone downstairs. Ethan left with the reps from the council, and what I want to do is take a breather and figure out how the hell I'm going to handle this.
I know I have to have a conversation with him. He needs to know the truth. I need him on this Journey with me, and I can't keep secrets.
Luca's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. "They're gone?"
He steps into the entryway, arms crossed, his expression tight. He smells the tension instantly, the kind that lingers after a fight you barely survived. Luca has been against everything from day one. He has warned me, and I refused to listen, and I know if given the chance to undo it all, I'd make the same decisions. I have no regret. I would claim him as mine over and over again.
"Gone," I mutter. "For now."
He echoes through his nose. "That didn't sound promising. Didn't you convince them to let go at the meeting?"
"It wasn't."
He watches me for a long moment. "What did they say?"
I drag a hand through my hair, pacomh tpward the window. The forest outside is still, dark and there is a panic inside me that I'm not sure i can contain right now. A lot of shit has happened and i feel like I'm spiraling. "They know about the bond. They don't know who it's with. But they felt it. Heard the fucking prowl.'
Luca swears under his breath. "So its only a matter of time before they start digging/"
"Yeah."
I brace a hand against the windowpane, trying to steady myself and somehow, the cold glass grounds me in the moment. The mark sings beneath my skin, traveling to the one place it knows it's safe. The bond. He's upstairs. Awake. Scared. And after what just happened between us, i cant fucking blame him..
This is all my fault.
"You're shaking," Luca says quietly.
"I'm fine."
"Bullshit. You've been holding yourself together since all this shit started, but the council showing up here? That's a whole different level of fucked."
I turn to face him. "You think i dont know that?"
"Then act like it," he snaps. "You can't afford to lose control right now. If they find him—"
"They won't," i cut him off. The words come out sharper than i mean them to but Luca has been on my ass since I met Jamie. He doesn't support this and i dont need to hear that right now. "They wont find him."
Luca's gaze hardens. "You're putting everything on the line for someone you barely know."
I dont correct him that Jamie is mine now. I made him mine the moment i marked him. No one can take that away from me. I wont let them.
Not even my best friend.
"He's not just someone."
The silence is heavy.
Knowing.
"Adrian…" Luca's tone softens, and that's even worse than him being a fucking asshole. "The bond. It's not supposed to happen like this. You didn't choose him. The moon did. You're fighting instincts that are older than us."
"I'm not fighting them." I take a step closer, voice low, dangerous. "I'm protecting him."
"And what if protecting him gets everyone else killed?"
I clench my jaw. "Then so be it."
Luca shakes his head, muttering something under his breath about my arrogance, but he doesn't push. He never does, not when he knows I've already made up my mind.
He turns toward the door. "We'll keep watch through the night. You should talk to him before sunrise. He deserves to hear it from you."
"He's not ready."
"Neither are you," Luca says, pausing in the doorway. "But that's never stopped you before."
I don't sleep all night and morning comes slo and unwilling. The house smells like coffee and tension, like no one slept but everyone pretended to. The bond still calls to me and it took a lot to stay away from Jamie all night. He's awake. I know it the way i know my own pulse.
Morning comes slow and unwilling. The night feels like an eternity and it takes a lot from me to even close my eyes. But finally, the sun comes up and it feels like I can breathe a bit. The house smells like coffee and tension, like no one else slept but they all pretended to like i did. The bond inside me still beats low in my chest. Jamie is awake. I know it the way i know my pulse.
I don't rush it.
That's the mistake i made last night. Pushing, demanding, letting my anger speak before the truth. This time, i move carefully, like approaching something wounded that might explode if i move too fast.
I stop outside my room door.
For a moment, i consider knocking.
Instead, I speak. "Jamie. It's me."
i ope the door. He's sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed, hoodie pulled up like some sort of armor. I feel the fear inside him, but there's also something else…want? Need? The mark at his throat is partially hidden, but i can still feel it. Warm, alive, tethered to me like some sort of chain aground my heart. He looks tired. Not weak. Just…older somehow. Like the night took something from him.
I close the door behind me.
Slowly, he stands up and e stand there a few feet apart, the spoace heavy with everything we didn't say last night.
"I'm not here to fight." I say first. "And I'm not here to order you around."
His eyes flick up, surprised but still very skeptical. He doesn't trust me and that's very fair.
"Good," he says. "Because i dont think i have anymore energy for that. A lot is going on inside me and I just cant deal with anymore fucking bickering."
Fair.
I let out a breath. "You overheard them yesterday."
It's not a question.
He nods once. "I heard enough."
My jaw tightens, not at him, but at myself. "They don't know who you are. Or what. They only know that this bond exists."
"And that scares them."
"Yes."
"That doesn't make me feel better," he says flat. "It makes me feel like a problem you're trying to manage."
That one lands. Clean. Deep. Like a fucking stab to my heart.
I take a step close, careful not to crowd him. "You are not problem."
"That woman seemed pretty convinced I was."
My wolf snarls at the memory, but I keep my voice level. "She lied to hurt you ."
He raises a brow. "Did she?" His gaze locks onto mine. "Because you did mark me. And you still haven't told me what that actually means."
He's right. He deserves m ore than half truths and deflection.
I nod once. "The kiss crossed a line I was trying not to acknowledge. Once that bond ignited, it couldn't be undone. I should have waked away earlier. I didn't and that's on me."
"You're really bad at the whole 'walking away' thing," he mutters.
A corner of my mouth twitches despite trying to be as serious as I can be. 'You noticed."
Silence stretches again, but it's different now. Less sharp. Less fragile. Almost like he has let his guard down a bit. It eases the tension a bit.
"I'm not going to force you to stay," I say quietly. "If you want to leave, really leave, I won't stop you."
His head snaps up. "You said that like you don't mean it."
I meet his gaze, steady. "I mean it. But you should know the truth before you decide."
His shoulders tense. "Okay."
"The bond doesn't control you," I continue. "It connects us. Amplifies what's already there. Choice still matters."
"And if I choose to stay?"
My chest tightens. "Then I protect you. From the council. From the pack. From myself, if I have to."
He studies me for a long moment, like he's weighing something invisible.
"I'm scared," he admits finally. "Not of you. Of how fast everything changed."
I nod. "So am I."
That seems to surprise him.
I step closer, close enough now that the bond hums louder, warmer. I don't touch him. Not yet.
"You don't have to decide today," I say. "Or tomorrow. Just… don't run without telling me first."
His lips press together. Then, quietly, "I didn't know how."
"I know."
Another pause.
Then he exhales, long and shaky. "Okay. I won't run. Not yet."
Relief hits me like a bruise I didn't realize I'd been holding.
"Thank you," I say, and mean it.
He nods once. "You still owe me the rest of the truth."
I allow myself a faint, tired smile. "Yeah. I do."
And for the first time since the council walked through my door, the house feels a little less like it's about to break.