Mag-log inLIAM~~~I marched into the kitchen, a thick, ugly huff flaring out of my nostrils.Why was I even angry? It’s not like I expected anything from him.When I reached the kitchen table, another scoff broke out of me.“If Jane made it worse then why still do anything with her? Wasn’t it common sense?” I muttered, another scoff breaking out of me.Not until she cleared her throat did I notice the girl standing next to the counter, a bottle of water in her hand.“Would you like some?” She asked, shaking the bottle.No, I’m fine. The words rose to my tongue but they never left. Was I really fine?‘You could just say yes, you know. It’s not like asking for your hand in marriage,’ Nyratha said.“Yeah. Thank you.”She opened the fridge and retrieved a bottle, and handed it over to me.“Don’t tell Troy, I gave you his drink.” She offered a soft smile before slipping out of the kitchen.I stared at the bottle and then back at the empty hallway. Maybe she was just being nice. I paused. Roger. G
FREDRINN~~~Once they noticed me, Jane scrambled out of the bed, snatching the blanket cover herself. The man’s eyes were wide, freezing for seconds, before tumbling out of bed.Within seconds, he’d reached for his clothes, pulled them on, and vanished out of the room, leaving Jane and me standing across from each other.Silence swallowed the room; my eyes remained on Jane. Her fingers clutching the blanket, her eyes latching onto the floor.Her lips twitched almost like she was expecting me to say something—anything.She wasn’t the only one waiting for me to say something. Even Gedon was.But I let the heavy quiet persist.Finally, Jane flicked her gaze to me. “But you can’t blame me, Fredrinn.” She shook her head, her words now punctuated by her ragged breaths. “You barely touch me. You don’t look like you want me. When we have sex it’s never…passionate.”‘That’s the card she wants to play,’ Gedon muttered, amused, ‘I thought we made it clear we weren’t in love.’I said nothing.“
FREDRINN ~~~I stood there, my fingers twitching against Liam’s wrist.‘Why is it still getting worse?” Liam muttered.Silence crowded the space between us as we did nothing but stare at each other.“Follow me,” he finally said.Without protesting, I followed him back into the room. I had barely shut the door when he snapped around.“Take off your shirt?” He crossed his arms. “I want to see it.”“It’s not as bad as it was.”His face held the frown. “Then let me see it.I could tell him no. Could tell him goodnight and turn around. But he might spend all night worrying about me instead of resting.Slow and rigid, I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it down. Moving behind me, Liam let his eyes wander over my back.“See, it’s not that—”My words vanished the moment his fingertips brushed against my back.I stiffened.It was a mere touch. I knew that. Yet the world narrowed to the warmth of his touch, to how smooth his finger glided over my back.Panicking at how a shiver crawled down my s
LIAM~~~The moment my eyes opened, they stung as if someone had poured sand into them. My body wasn’t any better; my skin felt dry, and my limbs stiffened with a strange weakness.‘Nyratha,’ I called out to her, checking if she was fine. ‘Liam,’ she muttered.Before another word could leave me, the door opened and my head turned.“Look who’s up.” Dane sauntered in, a small smile playing on his lips.“Where is Fredrinn?” I croaked out, rubbing my eyes.The innocent smile on his face turned into something else, and I wanted to tell him it wasn’t what he was thinking.“He’s gone to attend to a few things,” he said, “he should be here tomorrow.”I nodded.Dane drew closer to bed, but he didn’t seat like I thought he’d.“Everything went well,” he said, “Fredrinn and I have already begun looking into a proper way to unbind your wolf.”I still couldn’t stomach the thought that someone bound my wolf. How? When? My mind went to Father, but then it remembered his disappointment when I couldn
FREDRINN~~~It took a few minutes to drive there. The place was quiet, a stretch of road with a few streetlamps and nothing else, the kind of area where no one would hear anything.Rourke was already there.He leaned against the side of his car, hands in his pockets, and straightened the moment he saw me pull in. He walked over before I had even shut the door.“I’ve been trying to reach you.”“And?”He looked at me.“I thought we were done,” I said. “Whatever business we had.”“We’re not.”I raised an eyebrow.“Have you forgotten already?” His voice was calm. “I’m still helping you look into the disappearance of the female wolves.”He paused, just long enough to let it sink in.“And what about the oath of allegiance? How exactly do you think we’re done when we’re bound by it?”The oath.I almost forgot about it entirely. The words, the weight of them, the way they had settled over me like a second skin. I had bound myself to him. I couldn’t raise a hand against him. And he couldn’t
FREDRINN~~~Liam was fast asleep.I sat in the chair beside the bed, my elbows on my knees, and listened to him breathe. It was slow and measured, barely noticeable.The curtains were still drawn. The lamp had burned down to a weak yellow glow.His hands lay on top of the blanket, wrapped in clean bandages.I could tell it was still hurting. Even in his sleep. His fingers twitched every few minutes, curling and uncurling against the sheet.Someone had put those things inside him.It wasn’t by accident. Someone had looked at a boy and decided to open him up and fill him with something that would eat at him from the inside. And then another had bound his wolf, letting him believe, for years, that the fault was his.What did he do wrong?My jaw ticked.I looked at his face instead.His small nose. His full lips. His long lashes. The lines that usually sat between his brows had smoothed out. His hair had fallen across his forehead, and one lock curled against his cheek. I watched h







