Chapter 10
488 Words
The drive back from town was quiet. Too quiet.
Lily had dozed off in the back seat, her small hand curled around her wolf toy. Evelyn kept her eyes on the road, but her thoughts spun in circles. Damian’s words echoed in her head like a drumbeat she couldn’t silence.
Not when you’re mine.
The bond. His claim. His shadow dogging her every step. It terrified her and worse, it stirred something inside her that she’d sworn was long dead.
By the time she pulled into the cabin’s clearing, her nerves were frayed raw. She carried Lily inside, tucked her into bed, then sank onto the couch, burying her face in her hands.
She needed distance. She needed to think.
The knock came almost immediately. Not loud this time, but insistent.
She didn’t have to ask who it was.
Damian stood there when she opened the door, his expression grim. But there was something else in his eyes too a question, maybe even regret.
“Evelyn,” he said quietly. “We need to talk.”
Her stomach knotted. “I don’t want to hear about bonds. Or protection. Or what you think is best for me.”
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. “This isn’t about what I think is best. It’s about what’s coming.”
Something in his tone made her chest tighten. She stepped back, letting him inside despite herself.
He stayed near the door, arms crossed, a man bracing himself against more than just her temper. “Word’s spreading. Too fast. Rogues don’t move like this unless someone’s driving them.”
Evelyn’s blood ran cold. “What do you mean?”
Damian’s golden eyes met hers. “They’re not just here by chance. Someone’s looking for you.”
Her heart stopped.
The room tilted, memories she’d fought to bury clawing their way back, faces, threats, the betrayal that had forced her to run in the first place. Her lungs burned, but she forced herself to keep her voice steady. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.” His gaze was unyielding. “And I think you know it too.”
Her throat closed. She wanted to deny it, to shove him back out into the night, to keep her walls intact. But she couldn’t—not when the truth was already clawing at her chest.
Evelyn turned away, pressing her palms against the counter, her shoulders shaking. “If they find us…”
“They won’t,” Damian said, the steel in his voice leaving no room for doubt. “Not while I breathe.”
When she looked back, he was closer, his scent wrapping around her, grounding and suffocating all at once. The bond tugged, relentless, and for one terrifying heartbeat, she wanted to believe him.
Wanted to let herself fall.
But Evelyn Hale knew better than anyone promises could shatter, and when they did, the pieces cut deepest.
- Writer
