로그인Bella’a POV “They can’t force me to stand there.” “They can, and they will, and refusing forfeits the territory faster than losing the race itself would.” Draven’s voice stayed level, but I felt the tension underneath it, the same coiled stillness I’d learned to recognize as him working a problem too fast for words to keep up with. “This isn’t a rule we can argue around. It’s a rule built specifically to close the exact door we were planning to use.” I walked back and forth in the room my body still feeling the leftover excitement from the news the runner brought. I could not sit down because I was too excited. Every plan we made in the three days was based on the idea that I could move around without being seen.. Now that was not possible because of a new rule. Then Ronan said "We will find another way in." Ronan had already spread out a map he drew by hand on the table. He used a water bottle, a wrench and his own hands to hold it down. His wrists were still a little bruised fr
Bella’s POVThe circuit grounds were a different world from the track where I almost died a few months ago.They were bigger and older with stands that rose three tiers high around a course carved into hills. It was clear that this place had been hosting events like this for a time way longer than any pack alive today. When it was empty the place had this energy that made the hair on my arms stand up and we had not even parked our bikes yet."It feels different " I said, to myself."It is different " Draven said, his voice tight as he scanned the grounds. He did not trust this place. "This circuit is older than the one you used to race on. Older than most of the packs competing here today."I looked at the stands. Tried to imagine all the packs that had filled those seats over the years long before anyone decided who could race and who could not. I felt a connection to this place like my own family was older than the rules that people had made.Thor and Frey went ahead of us checking
Bella’s POV“Again.”Frey did not wait for me to catch my breath before calling it which was why I had asked him to run this drill instead of anyone else. I mean anyone gentler would not have pushed me hard as I needed to be pushed.I reset my stance my boots planted wide on the garage floor that Thor had cleared for training the moment we found out that the tournament had moved up. We had three days. Three days to relearn everything my body had forgotten how to do since the crash. Three days to turn this understanding of my own bloodline into something useful instead of just scary. My side still hurt where the old wound had not fully healed a reminder with every twist and pivot that my body had not caught up to what I was demanding of it.Frey said, " this time." He was already circling around me. "Whoever is really behind this tournament is not going to care that you are still healing.”I came at Frey low the way Gordon had taught me weeks ago. He sidestepped easily tapping my shoul
Bella’s POVDraven got to the compound before I did so the first person I saw when I walked into the yard was not him.It was Ronan, standing near the porch all bloody with his wrists finally untied, looking really lost in a place he had never been to before. I had never seen him look so lost not in his own territory.I stopped walking away. My body became stiff and old habits kicked in fast. I had learned the way that it was not safe to let my guard down around Ronan. My hands were already clenched into fists before I even realized it. This was because I had spent my life preparing for a fight especially when Ronan was around."He is not going to hurt you " Draven said, appearing beside me. He must have seen that I was hesitant. "Not. Maybe not ever again. I know you might not believe this. That is okay.""I do not need you to say he is okay " I said."I am not saying he is okay " Draven said. "I am just telling you what I know." Draven put his hand on my back. It was steady and calm
Draven’s POV"Release him."I said it before I even thought about it and every elder in the room turned to look at me like I was speaking a language they did not understand.Ronan was still on his knees he had not moved since the guards brought him in. I looked at the back of his head trying to make sense of the man kneeling there all bloody and quiet. It was hard to match this Ronan with all the versions of him I had disliked over the years. It was not easy to do.The presiding elder spoke up her voice was all business now. "He came into our land without permission he said he was a traitor to his father and you want to let him go." She sounded surprised. "That is not like you Draven for you."I kept looking at Ronan he was still bloody, kneeling still watching me like he thought I would say no. "He is not the problem he is the only one who told us the truth tonight." I said. "Whatever he did to Bella in the past that is between them. Tonight he came into a room where we could have ki
Bella’s POV“You’re not going to hurt us.”It wasn’t a question. I said it the way you say something you need to be true, testing the weight of it out loud before you fully trust it.The old lady looked at me for a long time the light from the lantern making her face look very tired. She looked different up close not like the person in charge who had been talking to Draven. She looked like someone who had been carrying a load by herself for a very long time and it had taken a lot out of her to put some of it down."No " she said after a while. "If I wanted to hurt any of you you would already be hurt. I have had chances to do that since you first opened that panel."Thor did not relax and neither did I. Frey stood behind us watching the doors like he always did like he never felt safe in a room with one way out."What do you want then " I asked her."I want to finish talking about something I should have talked about a time ago " she said. She sat down on a crate moving slowly like he
Draven’s POVI dragged my jacket on, the stitches pulling with every move. I felt a few tear open but I ignored it, striding towards the door.Thor was waiting outside with the look he got when he had already decided something was a bad idea and had also already accepted that it was going to happen
Bella's POV I have waited patiently for days, waiting for Draven to come and visit me as he promised, but I haven't seen him since then. I was too curious to know the reason he would rather not fulfill his promise. “Today has been the fourth day since I last saw Draven. He promised that he would c
Bella's POV I slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't see the environment clearly because I was just waking up; I needed to get myself first. As I turned and faced up, at first it was blurred from my view, but as I gently opened my eyes, well, it was as if magic happened. “What's good here?” I muttered
Draven's POV:“Were you not informed by Thor how busy I am today?” I asked immediately as she walked inside my study room.I sat behind the table, a book swapped on it. My hands kept scanning a particular paper, looking for a particular information but I got distracted now that Clara was standing i







