Claimed
961 Words
Darkness swallowed the council hall.
For one suspended heartbeat, no one moved.
Then chaos erupted.
Shouts.
Growls.
The crack of splintering wood.
Rae’s energy flashed like lightning in the black, illuminating pieces of the room in violent bursts.
Will grabbed Remi’s wrist instantly.
“This way.”
She didn’t argue.
That alone should have worried her.
He pulled her through a hidden side corridor as Trey and Elijah shouted orders behind them.
Aspen raced at their heels.
The sounds of fighting echoed farther away as Will shoved open a narrow iron door leading into the old lower tunnels beneath the pack house.
The moment it slammed shut behind them, silence hit.
Heavy.
Breathing.
Heartbeats.
The distant storm.
That was all.
Remi jerked her hand from his grip.
“What the hell was that?”
Will braced one hand against the stone wall, chest rising sharply.
“An extraction point.”
“No, I mean the part where you dragged me into underground murder tunnels while everyone else is fighting.”
“They can handle themselves.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“And you couldn’t?”
His gaze snapped to hers.
“That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it, Will?”
Silence.
Aspen paced the narrow space, restless.
Outside, thunder rolled.
Inside, something far more dangerous built between them.
Remi took a step closer.
“Because I’m tired of half-truths. I’m tired of being handled. And I am especially tired of everyone deciding what’s best for me without asking.”
Will stared at her.
Tension carved into every line of him.
Then—
“You want the truth?”
She crossed her arms.
“Try me.”
His jaw flexed.
“When we were eighteen, I pushed you away because if I didn’t—you would’ve stayed.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
Remi froze.
Will exhaled sharply, voice rougher now.
“You had a future outside Bayou Falls. A dream bigger than this pack, bigger than me. And I knew if I gave you one reason to choose me…”
He stepped closer.
“You would’ve sacrificed it.”
She opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Because part of her knew.
Even then.
He kept going.
“So I made you hate me.”
Her chest tightened.
“You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“I know.”
The admission came instantly.
Without defense.
Without excuse.
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever done.”
Silence stretched.
Heavy.
Painful.
Real.
Will’s voice dropped.
“But I would do it again if it meant you became who you were meant to be.”
Her throat burned.
“Do you have any idea what that did to me?”
His face shifted.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Because it destroyed me too.”
That landed.
Hard.
Remi looked away.
But he stepped closer.
Close enough that she could feel the heat rolling off him.
Close enough that her pulse betrayed her.
“I never stopped watching you.”
She looked back sharply.
“What?”
“From a distance. Through contacts. Pack networks. Anything I could access without interfering.”
Her breath caught.
“You followed my career?”
“I made sure you were safe.”
That was somehow worse.
She shoved at his chest.
“You don’t get to say things like that now.”
He caught her wrist.
Not forcefully.
Just enough to stop her.
His voice dropped lower.
“I never hated you.”
The bond between them surged.
Raw.
Undeniable.
Remi sucked in a breath.
Because she felt it fully now.
Not attraction.
Not chemistry.
Something older.
Deeper.
Like roots intertwining beneath the surface.
Will lifted his hand slowly.
Rested it against her cheek.
And this time—
she didn’t pull away.
“I pushed you toward your dream because I loved you too much to let me be the reason you gave it up.”
Her eyes stung.
She hated that.
Hated how honest he sounded.
Hated how much of her had always wanted this.
The truth.
The reason.
The confession.
And hated most of all—
that she believed him.
Her voice cracked slightly.
“You should’ve trusted me enough to choose for myself.”
“I know.”
A whisper.
“And I will regret that for the rest of my life.”
Silence.
Then softer—
“But don’t mistake sacrifice for absence, Remi.”
His forehead touched hers.
A breath between them.
“I was always yours.”
The words shattered the last of her resistance.
Because deep down—
some part of her had always known.
Her hands gripped his shirt.
Tight.
And for the first time—
she stopped fighting the pull.
Stopped denying the ache.
Stopped pretending the space between them wasn’t carved into her.
She surrendered.
Not weakly.
Not helplessly.
But knowingly.
Choosing it.
Choosing him.
And when his lips met hers—
the world shifted.
The bond ignited.
Heat crashed through her body.
Wild.
Electric.
Her senses sharpened violently.
The second pulse inside her surged.
And somewhere beneath her ribs—
something ancient stirred.
Not sleeping now.
Awakening.
Will pulled back sharply, breath ragged.
His eyes had gone fully gold.
“Remi—”
“I know.”
Because she felt it too.
The claim.
The acceptance.
The irreversible connection locking into place.
Outside—
the storm exploded.
A violent crash above them.
Stone trembled.
Aspen barked sharply.
Then—
a scream echoed through the tunnel.
Not theirs.
Rae.
Remi’s blood ran cold.
Will was already moving.
But before they reached the door—
a voice boomed through the corridor.
Cold.
Victorious.
“You chose each other too late.”
The tunnel walls shook.
And the first explosion hit.
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