All Chapters of The Fire That Chose Me : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The house was quieter than it should have been. Too quiet. Evelynn sat curled on the edge of the bed, knees pulled close to her chest, trying not to count the minutes that kept slipping past her. She told herself she wasn’t waiting but that was a lie she couldn’t hold onto. Every sound outside, every creak of the old walls, had her heart jumping.The night had teeth. The windows rattled from a restless wind, and shadows kept shifting across the floor. Evelynn wrapped the blanket tighter, as though it could steady her heartbeat. Aiden had been gone for hours. He’d promised he’d come back before the moon rose too high, but the clock was sliding toward midnight.Her thoughts wouldn’t sit still. They ran circles in her head what if he was hurt, what if the hunters had found him, what if the wildness inside him had finally taken too much? She hated herself for the last thought, hated the crack of fear that came with it. He had fought so hard to keep control. She had seen him bleed for it.

The night smelled of rain before it came. Evelynn had always loved that—how the air grew heavier, how the world seemed to hold its breath before the sky gave way. But tonight, that hush pressed differently against her chest. It wasn’t the calm before a storm she could welcome. It was the kind that made her heart whisper warnings she didn’t know how to name.Aiden walked beside her, their steps slow against the uneven road. He wasn’t saying much, but then again, he didn’t need to. The space between them was its own language. His hand brushed against hers once, twice, and then he caught it properly, curling his fingers around hers with quiet certainty.“You’re quiet,” he said at last, his voice low, threaded with that husky steadiness she leaned on more than she’d ever admit.Evelynn’s lips parted. She could lie, give him some soft reply that would ease the concern she saw shadowing his eyes. But lying to Aiden felt like trying to hide fire from the dark. He always saw too much.“I’m ju

The dawn came pale and quiet, the sky brushed with silver and rose as though the world itself had been softened overnight. Evelynn watched from the small window, her hands pressed to the glass, the cold biting at her skin. Sleep had not come easily. Her body had rested, yes, but her thoughts had never stilled.Behind her, Aiden stirred. She didn’t turn just listened to the shift of blankets, the low sound he made in his throat as he woke. It was a sound that had become as familiar as her own breathing. When his arms slid around her waist from behind, she leaned back without thinking, as if her body had been waiting for him.“You’ve been awake a while,” he murmured, voice still rough with sleep.“I couldn’t stop thinking,” she admitted.“About last night?”“About everything,” she said softly. “The fire… the shadows… us.”He pressed a kiss into her hair, holding her tighter, as though he feared she might dissolve with the morning light. “Whatever comes, we’ll face it. You don’t have to

The night was impossibly still, as if the world itself were holding its breath. Evelynn stepped onto the balcony, the cool air wrapping around her like a whisper. Her thoughts, though, were far from quiet. They spun with the same ferocity as the fire now coursing through her veins—untamed, insistent, impossible to ignore.Aiden was inside, leaning against the edge of the fireplace, eyes dark and unreadable in the low light. She could feel him before she even looked at him—the taut tension in his muscles, the way his presence filled the room like gravity itself. Every heartbeat of hers seemed synchronized with his, a rhythm she couldn’t escape and, truth be told, didn’t want to.“Evelynn,” he said softly when she finally turned, the single word carrying a weight she could almost touch. There was caution there, yes, but also something else—something raw, almost desperate.She swallowed, feeling the fire flare hotter at the sight of him. “I couldn’t… stay inside,” she admitted. The words

The night pressed close, heavy and restless. Evelynn sat near the window, knees drawn to her chest, her cheek against the cool glass. Outside, the forest whispered with shadows, but it wasn’t the dark that kept her awake. It was the fire. It was him. It was everything tangled between the two.Behind her, Aiden moved quietly, though she could hear every step he took. The floor creaked softly under his weight, and she wondered if he was pacing just to keep from unraveling.“You’re going to wear out the wood,” she murmured without turning.He stopped. She felt his gaze on her before he spoke. “You feel it too, don’t you? The shift.”Her throat tightened. She hugged her legs tighter. “I don’t want to feel it,” she whispered.Aiden came closer, crouching in front of her until he filled her vision. His hands were warm as they cupped hers, steadying, grounding. “You don’t have to fight this alone.”The tears came before she could stop them. “It’s not just the monsters, Aiden. It’s me. I don’