Chapter 43
886 Words
We had barely stepped out of the house when I heard them again. The whispers. The same voices that carried my name like it was dirt on their tongues. I didn’t bother to turn this time. I didn’t flinch. I just kept walking with my head high like Devon always told me to.
Joey was waiting for me at the training ground, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. She looked me over like she could already see the exhaustion written across my face.
“You ready?” she asked.
“I have to be,” I replied. My voice didn’t shake the way it usually did. For the first time, I meant it. I was tired of crying. Tired of hiding. Tired of letting them think I was weak.
Devon stood a little behind me, arms folded, watching like a shadow that wouldn’t leave my side. I could feel his eyes on me, burning hotter than the morning sun.
Joey tossed me a staff. “Let’s see how long you last today.”
The first strike nearly knocked the wind out of me, but I swung back, forcing my arms to obey me. Every part of my body screamed that I wasn’t strong enough, that I was still the weak girl they believed me to be. But I refused to let it stop me. Not anymore.
Each time Joey knocked me down, I got up. Dirt in my mouth, bruises spreading across my arms, blood stinging my lip. I still got up. Devon never interfered, though I saw his jaw tighten every time I hit the ground.
Something inside me was different today. Every time Joey’s staff came crashing toward me, I felt a rush in my veins. Hot. Like fire trapped beneath my skin, begging to get out. The heat made me dizzy, but it also gave me strength. I blocked her faster than before, pushed back harder. My muscles trembled but my heart pounded like a drum of war.
At one point Joey stumbled back, eyes wide like she hadn’t expected me to hit that hard.
“You’re stronger,” she said under her breath, gripping her staff tighter.
Devon’s gaze sharpened, and I knew he felt it too. The change. The heat. Whatever it was burning inside me, it wasn’t normal.
“Again,” I told Joey, panting.
She didn’t go easy. She never did. Blow after blow, I matched her as best as I could until my arms gave out. I collapsed onto the ground, chest heaving, sweat dripping down my face. My whole body shook like I had been thrown into a furnace.
Devon rushed to me this time, kneeling beside me before I could push myself back up. “That’s enough, Addy.”
“No,” I croaked, my throat dry, “I can do more.”
He placed his hand on my shoulder, firm but gentle. “You’ll kill yourself if you keep pushing like this.”
“I can’t be weak,” I whispered. “Not anymore. Not when they’re waiting for me to fail. Not when…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t have to say it. He already knew.
His hand slid to my cheek, tilting my face up to meet his eyes. “You’re not weak. You’ve never been weak. But you don’t need to destroy yourself to prove that.”
Joey crouched nearby, worry flashing across her usually sharp features. “Your body’s heating up too fast. You feel it, don’t you?”
I nodded slowly. “It’s like I’m burning from the inside out. But I’m not in pain. Not exactly.”
Devon’s jaw clenched, and for a second I thought he might drag me away right then and there. Instead, he lifted me into his arms, ignoring my weak protests. My head rested against his chest, and I could hear the steady thump of his heart trying to calm the storm inside me.
He carried me back toward the house, Joey trailing behind silently. The pack members who lingered around training stopped to watch, their whispers louder than before.
“She can’t even last an hour.”
“She’s pretending. She brought something into that fight.”
“She’ll never be one of us.”
Their words cut, but I refused to let them see me cry. I buried my face into Devon’s shirt and held on tighter.
Inside the room, he laid me on the bed, his hands brushing damp hair from my forehead. “You scared me out there.”
“I scared myself,” I admitted. My voice was hoarse but honest.
The heat was still swirling in my veins, restless and wild, but under his touch it calmed a little. Like the fire recognized him. Like it didn’t want to hurt him.
Devon leaned closer, his forehead pressing to mine. “Whatever is happening to you, we’ll figure it out. You’re mine, Addy. I won’t let them or anyone else break you.”
His words settled deep in me, pushing away the last of the trembling fear. I wasn’t alone in this. Not anymore.
Still, when I finally closed my eyes, I couldn’t shake the thought that something was coming. Something inside me that I wasn’t ready for.
But this time, I wasn’t afraid to face it.
- Writer
