116

“I was going to say you’re spiraling, but clearly, we’re past that.”

“Careful,” I snarl. “Keep pushing, and I’ll spiral with your spine between my teeth.”

“I miss this,” he says, stepping closer, unbothered by the threat. “You. Unhinged. Honest. All teeth and hate. No leash, no mask. Just the pretty little beast beneath.”

“You don’t miss shit,” I snap. “You miss having something to provoke. You miss throwing fire and pretending you’re not just as flammable.”

གན་ ོ་ཇོ་ ོ

He’s too close again. Always circling like he owns the perimeter of my fury.

“You want honesty?” I ask, voice rising. “Here’s the truth, Theo. I don’t know what the fuck you want helping us–but it sure as hell isn’t redemption.”

He raises a brow, says nothing, and that pisses me off more.

“You don’t care about the pack. You never did. You sure as shit don’t care about me. So why are you still here? What, you bored of playing rogue on your own? Needed someone else to stalk in circles? Someone to remind you you’re not the only fucked–up wolf in the woods?”

His expression doesn’t shift, not even a little, and that blankness hits harder than if he’d thrown a punch.

When he finally speaks, his voice is lower, stripped of the usual taunting edge. “You think I’m sticking around to see you fall apart? You really believe that’s what this is?”

1 cross my arms and narrow my eyes. “Isn’t it?”

but it’s not frustration. It’s something heavier. Something restrained. “I’m

to

steady, too still—it feels like staring down a black hole, the kind that doesn’t just swallow light, but pulls the truth out of you whether

tell me why we haven’t done anything

are you talking

tone low and even. “We’ve been out here–circling, waiting, snapping at each other like rabid dogs while Grayson

though the cold isn’t the problem. It’s the heat crawling up my spine. “Because

to skin. “We’re not doing anything because

clenches. “And what? You think

“Yeah. I do.”

laugh, but there’s no humor in it. Just a bitter exhale through gritted teeth. “You think this is hesitation? You

scared?”

to fall in line. The universe to give you

waiting, Theo. I’m watching. I’m learning. I’m giving them the space to see who they really are

the way up, and the shadows stretch long behind me, the woods catching their breath like they know what’s

“like I’m some fragile, feral

09:01 Tue, 2 Sept

Chapter 116

a matchstick into the fire, letting it snap and

watching me now.

༣ ༥ ༢ 92%E

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