The fire crackled between them, casting flickering shadows across the dense forest. Caleb sat on the opposite side, arms crossed, his gaze unwavering as he studied Rowan. The tension was thick, nearly suffocating, but Rowan didn’t dare look away. He knew this moment was coming—he’d felt it simmering beneath Caleb’s sharp words and guarded eyes.
“I need you to prove it,” Caleb finally said, his voice steady but laced with something deeper, something raw. “Prove to me that you’ve changed. That you’re not the same coward who rejected me and left me to pick up the broken pieces of my life.”
Rowan swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to do that,” he admitted. “But I want to.”
Caleb let out a dry, humorless chuckle. “Of course you don’t. You always knew how to lead a pack, how to follow traditio
