Chapter 19 — Don’t Decide For Me

Hallie found out Grant had changed her work assignment when Caleb refused to hand her the outer-crew list. She held out her hand. Caleb looked at it.

Then at her face.

“No.”

Hallie lowered her hand. “No?”

“You’re on stores today.”

“I was on the outer crew.”

“Not anymore.”

She stared at him. Caleb had the decency to look uncomfortable.

“Who changed it?”

He did not answer fast enough. Hallie already knew.

“Grant.”

Caleb exhaled.

“He thought—”

“I’ll ask him what he thought.”

Grant was near the far storage building, checking a stack of repaired tools before they were put back into use. Hallie stopped several feet away. He looked up.

The moment his attention settled on her, she saw him register her anger. His half-Vael blood told him that much. The reason remained hers.

Good.

“Did you change my assignment?”

Grant straightened.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“The outer crew works close to the boundary.”

“I know where it works.”

“Austin crossed that boundary days ago because of you.”

“Because he wanted to talk to me.”

“And I don’t know whether he’ll do it again.”

Hallie folded her arms.

“So you decided I shouldn’t work there.”

“For now.”

“Without asking me.”

Grant’s jaw tightened.

“I’m responsible for what happens in Cedar Draw.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

The words came sharper than she intended. Grant set down the tool in his hand. Hallie noticed the movement because he did it slowly.

The gesture carried neither defensiveness nor threat. He simply made sure his hands were empty.

“I’m listening,” he said.

She took one step closer. Then stopped.

“I understand why you don’t want me near the boundary.”

Grant stayed quiet.

“I understand Austin came here. I understand the bond is still active. I understand that if he appears again, you don’t know what he wants.”

“Yes.”

“But you changed my work because you decided the answer for me.”

“I changed one assignment.”

“That’s still a decision about where I’m allowed to go.”

Grant’s expression hardened slightly.

“As Alpha, I move people when I think there’s a risk.”

“And as your wife?”

His silence lasted too long. Hallie felt the answer before he gave it.

“That matters too,” he said.

The assumption finally showed itself, and Hallie uncrossed her arms.

“When you asked me to marry you, what did you promise?”

Grant’s eyes stayed on hers.

“That I wouldn’t use being your husband to claim what you hadn’t given me.”

“And you told me I could say no without losing my place here.”

“Yes.”

“You built the whole proposal around the fact that my choice was supposed to remain mine.”

“Yes.”

“Then you don’t get to decide that marriage means I’m safer only when you choose where I stand.”

Grant looked away. Only for a second. It was the first time Hallie had seen him do that during an argument.

When his gaze returned, the Alpha certainty had shifted. His authority remained; the assumption beneath it did not.

“I was trying to keep you out of a situation that could become complicated fast.”

“I know.”

“If Austin arrives while you’re near the edge of the territory—”

“I know.”

“He is your mate.”

“I know that too.”

The bond stirred faintly at the word, distant but alive. Hallie ignored it.

“I’m not saying you can’t warn me,” she said. “I’m not saying you can’t tell me you think something is a bad idea. I’m saying you don’t make the choice and tell me afterward.”

Grant was quiet. Hallie felt the anger in herself begin to thin. Not because she had changed her mind.

Because he was actually hearing her. Still, when he stepped forward, Hallie stepped back. Grant stopped immediately.

The space remained between them. Grant kept his hands to himself. Touch never became a way to soften the argument.

The restraint hurt because it proved he was still listening even while the argument remained between them.

“You’re right,” he said.

Hallie blinked. Grant glanced toward the center yard.

“I made the decision as Alpha because I could justify it as safety.”

Then he looked at her again.

“And I let being your husband make the justification easier.”

Hallie swallowed.

“That’s the problem.”

“Yes.”

No defense followed. Grant called Caleb’s name. Caleb appeared around the side of the building a moment later, still carrying the work lists.

Grant nodded toward Hallie.

“Put her back on the assignment she had.”

Caleb looked between them.

“All right.”

Grant added, “Unless she wants something else.”

Then he looked at Hallie. His gaze went past Caleb. Past the list.

Her.

“What do you want?”

The question settled into the space Grant had left between them. Hallie could have chosen stores simply to prove she was not reacting against him. She could have chosen the outer crew simply to prove she could.

Neither felt like choice. She thought about the work itself.

“I want the outer assignment today.”

Grant nodded once.

“Then take it.”

“And if you think it’s unsafe?”

“I’ll tell you why.”

“And then?”

“You decide whether the risk is yours to take, unless there’s a rule that applies to everyone.”

Hallie studied him.

“That’s different.”

“It should have been different the first time.”

Caleb handed her the list. Hallie took it. Grant held the distance she had asked for.

She had asked for room, even without saying the words directly, and he was still giving it. The anger was almost gone now. In its place was something more difficult.

Trust depended on what Grant did after he was wrong. Here, he had listened and changed the decision. Hallie tucked the list under her arm.

“I’m still angry.”

“I know.”

“You can feel it.”

“Yes.”

“That wasn’t permission to decide what would fix it.”

Grant’s mouth shifted.

“No.”

Hallie turned toward the outer crew. After two steps, she looked back. Grant remained exactly where she had left him.

He had moved her in the name of protection without asking. When she objected, he corrected the assignment and stayed where she left him. He let her go.