Rejected: The Alpha's Fatal Mistake
"I want to build something with you, Wren. Properly. Whatever that looks like — here, at Nightshade, or somewhere new, or some combination of both our worlds that neither of us has quite figured out the shape of yet. I don't need it decided tonight. I just wanted you to know I'm thinking about it. About us. About an after that isn't just survival."
Wren considered that for a long, quiet moment, watching the last light fade from that distant mountain range, and found something in her chest — old, careful, still healing — settle into a warmth she was slowly, cautiously learning to trust. "I want that too," she said finally, quiet and honest. "I didn't expect to, six years ago. I'm glad I was w