Mag-log inRue’s POVPercy slept with his hand around mine, but his sleep was not peaceful. Several times, his brows tightened, and his fingers gripped mine harder. Each time, I called his name softly.“It’s all right,” I whispered. “I’m here.”He did not fully wake, but his breathing slowed again. I had promised him I would stay, so I stayed.Near dawn, the blanket slipped down from his shoulder. That was when I saw the scars on his skin. Some were thin and pale. Some were deeper and darker. A few were still healing, and the bandages near his side were stained with blood.Percy opened his eyes before I could pull the blanket back. He saw where I was looking, and his face changed.“Don’t look,” he said, trying to sit up. I held his shoulder gently. “Percy, let me see.”“No,” he said. His voice was still rough from sleep. “There is nothing to see.”“There is,” I said. “You have been hiding your pain from me for too long. I want to know what you went through.”His jaw tightened. “Knowing will not
Then I opened my hand and let her take the extra pill away. She placed it back into the bottle and left only the correct dose in my palm. “Take only that,” she said.I swallowed the medicine with water and placed the glass down. “Happy?”“No,” she said. “But less afraid.” I should have told her to return to the couch. Instead, I watched her stand beside me, small and stubborn, with worry clear on her face. “I still may not sleep,” I said.“Then I’ll stay awake with you.” She led me toward the bed as if I were the patient and she were the physician. I should have stopped her, but I followed. When I sat down, she sat beside me with a careful distance between us.“You don’t have to fix everything tonight,” she said. “You don’t have to trust me all at once. Just let me stay.” I looked at her. “And tomorrow?”“I’ll still stay,” she said. “I am not promising that we will never argue or that I will never be afraid. I am promising that I will not leave when things become hard.”Her words made
Percy’s POVRue did not leave after I told her to. She stood behind me for a long moment, and I could hear her breathing. I kept my back to her because I knew one look at her face would make it harder to refuse her.“I heard you,” she said quietly. “But I’m not leaving tonight.” My hand tightened beside me. “Rue, do not test my patience.”“I’m not testing you,” she said. “I came all this way because I’m worried about you.”I turned around slowly. “Do not call this worry.”“Then what should I call it?” she asked. “You love me. You want me here. But you keep using cruel words because you think they will protect you.”Her words made me angry because they were too close to the truth. “You do not know what I want.”“I know what you are doing,” she said. “And I know I hurt you when I could not answer you before. I will not pretend I did not.”I was surprised by how directly she spoke to me. She did not defend herself. She did not blame me. She only stood there with red eyes and refused to g
I looked at her sharply. “Because that was safer.”“For whom?” she asked. “Not for you. Not for me.” I had no answer.Rue came closer until only a few steps remained between us. “Percy, listen to me. I am not here because I am grateful. I am not here because I owe you. I am not here because I feel guilty about the donation.”She looked straight at me. “I am here because I love you. The blood pact may have connected us when we were young, but my choice now is mine. I choose you because I want you, not because I have to repay anything.”For one moment, I almost reached for her. My hand moved, then stopped. I remembered the lounge. I remembered asking if she trusted me and hearing no answer.I stepped back. Rue saw it, and her eyes filled with hurt. “Percy.”“No,” I said. Her lips parted. “No?”“No,” I repeated. “I will not reconcile with you.” She went still.I forced myself to keep speaking. “You heard about the pact, the donation, and my condition. You are afraid. That does not mean w
Percy’s POVThe room was quiet when the door opened.I did not need to turn around to know who had entered. My wolf sensed Rue before I looked at her. My fingers tightened around the glass of water on the table, and I forced myself to stay seated.Rue closed the door behind her. She did not call my name at once. She only stood there, and the silence between us became tense. “You should not be here,” I said.Her footsteps stopped. “I know you told everyone to keep your location hidden.”“Then you should have respected it.”“I couldn’t,” she said. I turned and looked at her. She looked tired from travel, and her face was pale. The ruby necklace rested against her neck, and seeing it made me feel pain.I stood up slowly and asked, “Did Virel bring you here?”“He helped me travel,” she said. “But I chose to come.”“Because you heard about the donation,” I said. Rue’s eyes changed. “Yes. I heard about it.”I let out a short laugh, but there was no joy in it. “Then I was right. You came be
When I finished, he stepped back and pressed his hand against his forehead. “So Percy has been dealing with all this alone?”“Yes,” I said. “He thinks protecting me means leaving me out of every decision.”Cole looked angry, but he did not blame Percy. After a few seconds, he lowered his hand and looked at me. “You’re going after him,” he said.“Yes,” I answered. “I won’t let him use his life as payment for Amelia or for me.” Cole nodded at once. “Then I’ll help you.”“You support this?” I asked.“You’re my sister,” he said. “And Percy is trying to save Amelia. I cannot sit here and let him die for us.”His voice shook when he mentioned Amelia, but he controlled himself. “I’ll activate cross-border werewolf passage assistance. It will move faster than normal travel approval.”Dr. Virel stepped forward. “I can handle the medical clearance. Rue is still recovering, so she can travel under emergency werewolf medical passage.” Cole looked at him. “Can you get the documents approved today?
Aiden’s POVMy mind kept replaying the sound of the door closing behind Rue and Iris. Their words both irritating and painful, in a way that infuriated me.I paced, restless, my wolf full of fury that refused to calm. His growl thundered in my chest, a reminder of the rejection we had just tasted.
Aiden’s POVThe night dragged on for long, every minute feeling like an hour. Every second ticked louder, sharper, mocking me. Rue hadn’t called me back.I sat in my office, whiskey untouched, staring at the phone on the table as though it might suddenly ring with her name on the screen. My wolf st
Rue’s POVBy the time I found Bella and Iris waiting near the exit, the blaring alarms had died off. Bella was nervously tapping her feet, hands akimbo, while Iris had her eyes trained on the main exit.“Finally!” Bella exclaimed, walking forward towards me. “What on earth took you so long? Do you
Aiden’s POVThe restaurant’s dim lights shone gold in a fancy way. The candlelights on our table flickering at the slightest gust of wind. Haven smiled as she delicately sipped from her wine glass. Clearly, she was enjoying the evening dinner. Myself on the other hand, I was already tired. I very







