I chose the old birch stand for the meeting because Hayden would remember it. We had sparred here once when we were pups, all bruised knees and too-big egos. I remember Owen yelling at us. Correcting us while I pretended not to listen. The trees had grown taller since then. So had I. Thorne didn’t like me coming alone. I didn’t like it either. But if Hayden saw even a shadow of Thorne in the trees, he would fold back into performance and pride. I needed the guilty boy, not the pretender. The forest held its breath around me. Damp bark. Grey light. A bird complained somewhere I couldn’t see. Ray paced quietly in my chest.
“I don’t trust him. Not anymore,” she said, and I nodded in agreement.
“But this isn’t about trust. This is about using his guilt to our advantage,” Ray hummed, but I c
