Chapter 115
GRAYSON
I don’t think she’s hearing a single word she says.
It’s like Jess is speaking from somewhere ten feet behind her chest–sharp, certain, the kind of certainty only stubborn people or martyrs ever get. Her jaw’s locked, lips barely moving as she spits the words. Every sentence is a knife. Every breath, loaded.
She’s not asking.
She’s already decided.
And that’s the part that fucking kills me.
Because I know where this goes. I’ve seen it before–in my brother, in the ones who thought they were stronger than fate. You make war against your blood, and it doesn’t end clean. Doesn’t end with a crown or a funeral pyre. Ends with you standing over someone you used to love, and not knowing
who you are anymore.
Jess doesn’t get that yet.
She thinks the fire in her chest is enough to carry her through. That being right is enough to make her safe.
But I’ve been to the other side of right.
I’ve seen what it turns you into.
And still–still–I can’t look away.
She stands there, storm–eyed and half–wild, chin up like she’s daring me to stop her, and all I want is to grab her, shove her against the wall, and kiss that
furious mouth until it softens. Until she remembers we’re not enemies.
That I’m not him.
But I don’t move.
I just breathe her in. Blood, dirt, salt, magic. The tremble in her left hand she doesn’t think I see. The crack in her voice she doesn’t admit.
She’s already gone.
Walking into war like it’s her birthright, like she wasn’t made to be held, loved, saved,
Jess meets my eyes like a challenge.
And 1–God help me—I nod,
Because I won’t break her,
Even if she breaks herself.
Even if it’s me she shatters on the way.
If she’ll ask me about my plan, I’ll tell her the truth.
That I dream every night of knotting inside her–deep, final, brutal–marking her until she’s mine and no one else’s. That I wake with her name in my mouth and the ache still in my chest. That I’d rather be her fucking pet than an alpha without her.
I’ve already reduced myself to her lover.
Chapter 115
And I don’t regret it.
It’s the only thing that still feels holy.
But she won’t ask me.
She doesn’t care about plans. Not mine, not hers. Not anymore.
She’s here to bleed.
We’re all in the woods now–cleared space surrounded by black pines, the ground uneven, moss slick underfoot. No rules, no titles. Just sweat and rage and fists.
Jessica’s breathing hard across from me, shoulders glinting with sweat, shirt clinging to her back like a second skin. Her lip’s split. Her knuckles red. And she’s still fucking going.
“Come on, then,” she spits, circling me like I’m prey.
“Don’t,” I growl. “You’re tired. Your form’s shit.”
“Afraid I’ll win?”
before
Pin her. Hard.
aimed for my jaw, and it connects. My head snaps sideways,
behind me–sharp, mocking. “You getting soft,
the fuck up,” I bark
twist free. Her body slams into mine again, faster this time, teeth gritted, every inch of her vibrating with anger. Not
And I let her.
deserves to feel something that’ll fight
“This your plan? Let her beat you to shit and
chin, shirt
needs someone who won’t fucking leave her when
Theo snaps. “Not another wolf
when I lose
him. “Say
He does.
reek of it.
And it’s enough
“You two done measuring your dicks or do I need
Chapter 115
his lip.
But don’t look at me like I’m the enemy when all I’m trying to do is keep you
eyes flick. “Then don’t get in
She hits.
Hard.
crash into my jaw, heel of her palm jamming into my chest. I barely block the next one. My ribs absorb the blow. She moves fast–wild, reckless -throwing every ounce of fury into the swing like I’m the one who
wrist. She twists
to circling,
And then-
She charges.
I brace too late.
the ground together–hard. My spine knocks against packed earth, her weight slamming into me. She’s straddling my hips,
“Say it,” she snarls.
grip her thighs, dig my fingers
think
I shove up.
me now, forearm to her throat, legs pinning hers. She bucks like she wants to kill
I’d let her.
weak,” I grit out, jaw
Her eyes flare.
die before he gets the chance to kill you
in
I blink.
Then smile.
for that,”
She goes still.
Just for a second.
she slams her forehead
behind my eyes. Blood
3/5
Chapter 115**N
asshole,” she hisses,
me,” I fire back, not caring how much it
fist lands on my chest before I can finish breathing it. Hard. Bone to
“Fuck you, Grayson.”
“I’m right.”
but she doesn’t let up. “Even when you’re bleeding, even when you’re wrong, even when you’ve got
grip tightens on her arms–enough to still her, not enough to hurt. “You don’t get to lecture
goes still under
“No.”
“Let me-”
sharp whistle cuts the
Theo.
a smug grin. “You
the whole forest?”
like she
swear to
a hand through his
at me.
I do.
rage and I’m two seconds from either snapping or snapping her back into place,
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