All Chapters of Too Broken To Be Loved : Chapter 11 - Chapter 16

The office feels different now.Not lighter—nothing about this situation is light—but the air isn’t pressing down on my lungs the way it was a few minutes ago. Something has shifted. Something subtle but unmistakable. And I’m not sure if that terrifies me more than the silence that came before it.Colton’s words are still hanging in the air, steady and unyielding. You’re not walking into that pack alone. It shouldn’t mean as much as it does. It shouldn’t make something in my chest loosen, shouldn’t make my pulse settle, shouldn’t make me feel… safer.But it does.And that scares me more than anything else in this room.I sit back slowly, unclasping my hands before I realize how tightly I’d been holding them together. My fingers ache from the pressure. Oakley notices—of course he does—and shifts slightly, like he’s ready to step in if I so much as wobble. He doesn’t say anything, but the quiet support radiating off him is almost enough to make my throat tighten.Almost.I force

The morning air is crisp when Oakley and I step out of the apartment building, my duffel slung over his shoulder like it weighs nothing. It’s early—too early for my wolf’s liking—but she’s alert, ears pricked, pacing just beneath my skin. She knows today matters. She knows we’re walking into something big.Oakley walks beside me, quiet but steady. His magic hums faintly, brushing against my senses like a warm breeze. It’s not intentional—his emotions always leak into the air around him—but it’s comforting. Familiar. A reminder that I’m not doing this alone.We round the corner of the building, and I spot the SUV parked at the curb.Colton is leaning against the driver’s side door, arms crossed, posture relaxed in a way that’s too deliberate to be natural. He’s trying not to look intimidating. Trying not to loom. Trying not to let the Alpha bleed through too strongly.My wolf notices anyway.His eyes lift the moment he senses us—sharp, assessing, but not unkind. Lenox stands a few

Lenox’s car stays a steady distance ahead of us, his taillights blinking through the trees as he takes the familiar turns with practiced ease. He’s always been a confident driver—smooth, fast, but never reckless. I don’t have to worry about him. He knows the territory better than anyone, and he knows exactly what we’re walking into.I’m not concerned he’ll do something unpredictable. If anything, I’m counting on him to keep things steady.But even with him leading the way, my attention keeps drifting to the backseat.Kieara sits behind me, posture straight, eyes fixed on the forest outside the window. She’s trying to look composed, but the bond gives her away—small pulses of tension, flickers of instinct, her wolf pacing under her skin. Not fear. Not panic. Just… alertness. A wolf preparing for unfamiliar ground.Oakley sits beside her, quiet and steady. His magic hums faintly in the air, warm and controlled, like a soft current running beneath the surface. He’s not doing anything