LOGINWillow's POVI waited until he was out of sight before following after Mordecai.“Willow?” Diana called.“Where are you going?” Hela asked.“The dungeon.”“He told you to wait in your room.”“I know.”Hela looked at me for a long moment. I braced myself for an argument, but she only sighed.“Walk faster,” she said. “I have reports to get back to.”My side hurt, but I kept moving.I didn't want Noah back. I didn't want to see him or speak to him again. I wanted him as far away from me as possible.But I didn't want him dead either, and I wasn't sure how to explain that without sounding as though I still cared for him.Maybe I did care, in some distant way, about what happened to someone I had once trusted. But that wasn't the same as wanting him in my life, and it certainly wasn't forgiveness.The dungeon entrance came into view. Two guards stood outside, and they straightened when they saw me.“Miss Willow—”“Move.”They exchanged a glance.“Let her through,” Hela ordered from behind
Willow’s POV“Mordecai.”His name came out quietly, but he heard me.The vines around his arm hadn't fully let go. His chest rose and fell heavily, and his eyes remained fixed on Noah.For a moment, I thought he might fight against them. His free hand had curled into a fist, and the anger on his face was almost frightening.“Mordecai, please.”His gaze finally shifted to me.My legs had stopped holding me up at some point, and I had sunk to the grass without noticing. One hand was pressed against my side. My wrist throbbed, and my breathing hadn't yet returned to normal.The moment he looked at me properly, something in his expression changed.“Willow.”His voice was strained. The vines loosened around his arm, and he didn't look at Noah again. Instead, he crossed the short distance between us and crouched in front of me.“Where does it hurt?”“My wrist. My side, a little.”His eyes dropped to my wrist. Red marks surrounded it where Noah had grabbed me, and the skin was already beginn
Willow’s POVVines.Thick green vines burst through the garden doorway, wrapping tightly around Noah’s torso and arms before he could stand.He let out a startled shout.“What the—”Another vine wrapped around his legs. He struggled to tear himself free, but the more he fought, the tighter they became.I stared. The vines weren’t swaying in the wind. They were moving. They were alive.One curled around my waist. I gasped and tried to pull away, but it didn’t hurt. It loosened almost immediately and brushed against my side gently. Another slipped under my arm and lifted me carefully from the floor.They were coming from my garden.I could feel it.There was a strange awareness spreading through my chest.Weeks of sitting among those plants, begging a single vine to twitch, and now they were pouring out of the door like they had been waiting for me to call.“Get these things off me!” Noah shouted.A vine tightened around his chest, forcing the air from his lungs.“Willow!”I turned towa
Willow’s POVI barely got out of the way. Noah’s hand caught the sleeve of my shirt, and I twisted and drove my elbow into his side. He grunted.I pushed at his shoulder to get past him, but he caught me around the waist, and we crashed into the dresser.Pain shot through my hip.I fought to break his hold, but he was stronger than I was. His wolf was close to the surface. I could see it in the darkness of his eyes.“Noah, stop!”He didn’t.I stamped my heel down on his foot. His grip loosened enough for me to turn and drive my knee into his stomach. He doubled over, and I shoved him down.I stood there breathing hard, my hands shaking.He was an Alpha. I knew that. If he used all his strength, I wouldn’t stand much of a chance. But I had been training, and I wasn’t going to let him drag me anywhere.I took a step toward the door. Then another.“Willow.”I froze. His voice sounded different.He was getting to his feet, one hand pressed against his stomach. His expression had changed a
Willow’s POV“So, what’s the plan?” Noah asked. “When are we leaving?”I stared at him.For a moment, I genuinely wondered whether I had heard him correctly. Leaving?I glanced around my room, then back at him. He stood a few feet away, looking at me expectantly, as though we had already agreed on something and I was taking too long to respond.“What?”“When are we leaving?” he repeated. “We can’t stay here any longer. I’ve been trying to get to you for days, but Mordecai’s warriors won’t let me anywhere near you.”I frowned. “And you decided the best way to solve that was to break into my room?”His expression shifted slightly. “I didn’t break in. I found a way past them.”“That isn’t better, Noah.”He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “Willow, please. Can we not do this?”“Do what?”“This.” He gestured between us. “Act like I’m the enemy. I’ve been trying to see you for days. Do you have any idea how frustrating that has been?”I couldn’t believe this was what he wanted to
Noah’s POVMore than a week had passed since the last time I’d spoken to Willow, and for the last three days I hadn’t been allowed anywhere near her.I had tried on the first day. The warriors stationed around the packhouse made it clear I wasn’t welcome anywhere close to her.At first I assumed it was because they didn't like me, and this was probably another way of making my stay uncomfortable.The second day was not different. I barely made it past the corridor leading to the training grounds before a warrior stepped in front of me.When I asked where Willow was, he told me he couldn’t help. When I insisted that I needed to speak to her, he informed me that I wasn’t to approach her.I wasn’t permitted?Since when did I need anyone’s permission to speak to Willow?I knew she had told me to leave her alone. But people said things when they were hurt, so I wasn’t going to take her word for it.I nearly lost my temper with the warrior, but I knew better than to start a fight with the A
Willow’s POVI don’t know how long I sat there sobbing my heart out.My throat started to ache and my body ran out of the energy to cry. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them as I just sat there in my tiny room, staring at nothing.My room had been a storage room once, bu
Willow’s POVI pushed Noah back with both hands until he let go of me.“It changes nothing?” I echoed flatly.He blinked. “I just meant—”“That’s what you just said to me. It changes nothing.” I glared at him through my tears. “Do you hear yourself?”“Willow —”“Am I supposed to feel better right n
Willow’s POVI didn’t know when I stopped breathing. I didn’t know when the paper and pouch the healer had given me slipped from my fingers. I was standing in the doorway and my vision had gone strange, like everything was suddenly too bright, and their voices had started sounding like they were co
Willow’s POVAlpha Kelvin clasped his hands behind his back and looked at me with the same flat expression he used in pack meetings. “I’m talking about Stacey Holt and Noah,” he continued. “Their child.” He paused. “From your current state, I assume you have heard already.”My mouth opened and clo







