Eli
Hazel’s warning should be easy to ignore. She’s given me the watch yourself speech before. Usually about Ronan, sometimes about the pack in general. But this time, it sticks.
He’s not your friend.
He’s not doing you any favors.
Loran doesn’t give without taking.
I told her I could handle it. That I don’t need a big sister hovering over me. But the words loop in my head like a song I can’t turn off.
The problem is, I keep replaying it all wrong. Not the warning, but the way Loran leaned in, the subtle curl of his mouth, the almost lazy way he told me my stance was fine for someone who’d just started trying to keep up.
It wasn’t just what he said. It was how he said it. Like he knew more about me than I’d given him, like he’d been studying me long before offering a single “tip.”
