로그인Draven's POV"Train with me," Bella said.We were still standing where I'd stopped her, the garage close enough that I could hear Cade's drill running somewhere inside, and she was looking at me with wide, fixed eyes like training would fix what had just happened in her room."No," I said.She blinked. "No?""Not today.""Draven—""I need an hour," I said. "Maybe two. I'll find you after."She studied me for a second, the same way she studied a bike before deciding what was wrong with it, and whatever she saw must have satisfied her because she didn't push."Fine," she said. "Two hours."She walked toward the garage. I watched her go until she was inside. I could hear her exchanging words with Gordon. Only then did I let myself stop holding my breath.I crossed the field, the rage I'd been holding in my gut climbing into my chest. I found Thor in the war room going through patrol logs.He looked up when I came in and whatever was on my face made him set the logs down immediately."Wha
Bella's POVI ran the third switchback eleven times before I let myself stop.Draven hadn't come down to the track that morning — pack business. Thor had said something about the southern boundary that needed his attention before midday.I told myself I was relieved, and that it didn't matter whether he was here or not, but these days I'd told myself a lot of things that didn't hold up well under examination, and this was one of them.His absence let me focus on the bike instead of him, which was its own kind of relief since I didn't have to listen to him nitpick everything I was doing wrong.By the time I cut the engine, my arms were shaking in a good way — the evidence that I'd actually pushed myself instead of just going through the motions.I walked the bike back to the garage myself, waved off Gordon's offer to help with the post-run check."I'll be back in an hour to do this," I said.I was hungry enough that lunch came before the shower.Jamie rushed to me the moment I walked i
Ronan's POVSeven days.I had been counting the days constantly. One would think I had gone mad.It had been a long time since I had been this excited for anything. But it didn't matter, because I would soon get what I wanted.Seven days and Bella would be on a course.Against me.She was frail but determined and stubborn, so I knew she wouldn't reject the challenge.I stood at the window of the temporary quarters the council had arranged, close enough to the rogue territory that I could smell the pine and woodsmoke of it on a clear morning, if the wind was right.Both parties were required to be within a day's ride of the course by race week. My men had set up three miles east in a cluster of buildings the council used for exactly this purpose — neutral ground, close enough for inspection rights, far enough from both packs that neither could claim provocation.I had been here for four days.Four days of looking at that treeline and wondering if I would catch a glimpse of her, even th
Bella's POVThe moment I got on the bike, everything felt wrong before I even started the engine.It wasn't the bike itself — Cade had built this one and I had worked with it a few times with him so I knew every bolt and cable and the particular way the frame sat under pressure.The bike was right.It was me doing something wrong, the way I was sitting on it, the way my hands found the grips and then second-guessed the finding, my body had forgotten what it felt like to be on a bike for the thrill of it.Ten years.I hadn't let myself count it until now, sitting on the bike in the early morning with the crew ranged along the run-off and Draven standing three feet away watching me with his arms folded and nothing on his face that could tell me what he was thinking.Ten years was a long time to forget something that had once been as natural as breathing."You're sitting too far back," Draven said.I adjusted."Further."I moved forward on the seat and felt the weight distribution shift
Bella's POV"I think I'm going to leave," I muttered as I rose to my feet, running my hands through my hair."We need to talk about this," he roared but I waved him off."I need some air, we can talk about it later," I hissed as I walked out of Draven's office the same way I had entered it.This time though my mind was in more turmoil than when I had walked in.I understood why Draven wanted to talk about this now. If I was the one racing then a lot of things changed. I would need a new bike and I would have to relearn how to ride. I hadn't done it since my parents died.But I didn't work that way. I needed to process things for a while and make my own decisions. I had planned to use this race to free myself from Ronan's control, to take my revenge. This changed things."Where are you going?" I turned to the voice. It was Thor leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest looking like he'd been through hell and back."I need some air," I mumbled and he nodded."I can un
Bella's POVThor found me as we made our way back to the garage. I saw his face before he said anything and I stopped walking.Jules nearly walked into my back."What?" I said.Thor looked at Jules, then at Gordon, then back at me."Draven needs you," he said shortly. "Now."Jules and Gordon exchanged glances but I ignored it and waved them off."I'll catch up, tell Cade," I said to them. Gordon nodded but Jules looked like he was about to say something until Gordon dragged him off. I fell into step beside Thor going the other direction."What is it?" I asked."Council representative," he said. "He arrived forty minutes ago.""No advance notice?" I asked, frowning and he nodded."None," he confirmed. "Full documentation, council seal, everything legitimate on paper.""Why am I going?""He asked for you specifically," Thor said. "By name. Has a report that apparently requires your direct acknowledgment. Can't go through Draven."I kept walking, keeping my face neutral while my mind wor
Bella's POVThe table was one of the smaller ones.That was the first thing I noticed — whoever had chosen it hadn't accounted for four people, or maybe they had and that was the point. Clara had shifted along the bench, pressing close to Draven to make room.Thor nodded once in my direction as he
Bella's POVClara had been gone ten minutes before I stopped hearing her.Not literally, anyway.The garage was quiet, just the low music from the speaker Cade had started leaving on for me, and the sound of my own tools.But Clara's voice kept replaying in my head as I moved between one task and t
Clara's POVI was crossing the eastern yard with Thor's rotation report when I heard the engine.I knew that engine. Seven years since I joined the rogue pack and I knew every bike in this camp by the sound– the way you knew the voices of your loved ones.I turned without thinking, a smile forming
Bella's POVI was at the garage at five fifty.If anyone asked I wasn't anxious. I wanted to get a clean read on how the bike handled before the session proper. That was the reason.I unlocked the garage with the key Cade had given me three days ago after he'd gotten tired of me showing up at odd h







