JADE
I turned away from the stream, my arms wrapping tightly around myself as a chill crept up my spine. Not from the cold—but from everything else. From the weight of Rhys's words, the look in his eyes, the fact that I hadn't pushed him away when he leaned in. I'd let him close. I'd let myself feel.
And that was dangerous.
My boots crunched over the wet grass as I followed the narrow path back toward the pack house. The night air was thick with tension, even with Gerald gone and Rhys several paces ahead. I could still feel him—like gravity, like something tethered to my ribs and heartstrings all at once.
I swallowed down the knot forming in my throat.
Violet.
That name alone could shake me out of whatever spiral I was slipping into. My sister—my blood—was lying in a bed somewhere inside, recovering from something she never should've had to endure. And Zain, the Alpha of this whole dysfunctional, fur-covered circus, had just marked her without even asking.
