Wrong love

Chapter Twenty: Thoughts

Sleep never came.

Jace lay on his back staring at the ceiling.

One hand behind his head.

The other resting over his eyes.

He had replayed the scene a thousand times already.

The forest.

The fight.

The dagger.

Her face.

Especially her face.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it again.

Elara lying beneath him.

Not fighting.

Not insulting him.

Not calling him a dog.

Just looking at him.

Scared.

And somehow...

innocent.

Jace groaned and buried his face in a pillow.

"What is wrong with me?"

The question echoed through the room.

She was a vampire.

A hunter.

His enemy.

Everything he'd been raised to hate.

Yet when the moment came...

he couldn't do it.

Not because she was stronger.

Not because he was afraid.

Because he didn't want to.

The realization made him sick.

He rolled over.

Then rolled back.

Then sat up.

Then laid down again.

Nothing helped.

His mind refused to shut up.

How can you kill someone who hasn't done anything to you?

The thought came uninvited.

Jace frowned.

She hadn't attacked him first.

Most of their fights started because of him.

Most of their arguments started because of him.

Most of the trouble...

started because of him.

The realization was deeply uncomfortable.

Then—

Click.

His bedroom door opened.

Jace didn't even look.

"Go away, Max."

"No."

Of course.

The mattress dipped as Max sat at the foot of the bed.

For once, neither spoke.

Neither joked.

Neither argued.

Silence filled the room.

Then Max broke it.

"You couldn't do it."

Jace closed his eyes.

"No."

The answer came easier than expected.

No excuses.

No lies.

Just truth.

Max nodded.

As if he'd already known.

"Do you know why?"

Jace laughed bitterly.

"No."

For the first time in his life...

he genuinely didn't know.

Max leaned back against the wall.

Looking unusually thoughtful.

"This has happened before."

Jace frowned.

"What?"

"Not to me."

That answer somehow wasn't reassuring.

Max looked toward the moonlit window.

"Sometimes nature decides things before we do."

Jace rolled his eyes.

"That makes absolutely no sense."

"It doesn't have to."

Max shrugged.

"Nature rarely asks permission."

The room fell silent again.

Jace stared at the ceiling.

Then finally voiced the thought he'd been avoiding.

"We can never work."

Max glanced at him.

"We?"

Jace immediately regretted saying it.

Max's grin appeared instantly.

"There it is."

"Shut up."

"No."

Jace groaned.

Max laughed.

Then surprisingly...

his smile softened.

Only slightly.

"Why can't it work?"

Jace sat up.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"She's a vampire."

"And?"

"I'm a wolf."

"And?"

Jace stared at him.

Like he'd lost his mind.

"We're not supposed to be together."

Max looked unimpressed.

"According to who?"

"Everyone."

Max nodded slowly.

"That's not an answer."

Jace opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Because suddenly...

he didn't have one.

Max stood.

Stretching lazily.

Then headed toward the door.

Before leaving, he paused.

One hand resting on the frame.

"I'll tell you something."

Jace looked up.

Max's silver eyes met his.

For once...

there wasn't a trace of mockery in them.

Only certainty.

"Whether it works or doesn't work..."

His voice was calm.

"...that's your choice."

Jace frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Max smiled faintly.

"It means stop letting everyone else decide your life."

Then he opened the door.

"Make a wise choice, brother."

And with that—

He left.

Leaving Jace alone.

Again.

Only now...

he had even more questions than before.

---

Across town.

Elara wasn't sleeping either.

She lay beneath her blankets.

Staring into the darkness.

Thinking.

About him.

The memory refused to leave.

Jace standing over her.

The dagger in his hand.

His eyes filled with conflict.

The way his arm had trembled.

As though every part of him wanted one thing—

And every other part wanted the opposite.

Most people would have killed her.

Most hunters would have.

Most wolves definitely would have.

Yet he hadn't.

Why?

The question twisted inside her chest.

Then came the memory she couldn't stop replaying.

Not the dagger.

Not the fight.

His voice.

"Go."

Not angry.

Not victorious.

Sad.

Almost broken.

As if sparing her had somehow hurt him.

Elara rolled onto her side.

Frustrated.

Confused.

Annoyed.

Because none of this made sense.

Nothing about Jace Ryder made sense anymore.

Across town, a wolf stared at his ceiling.

A vampire stared at hers.

Neither sleeping.

Neither understanding.

Both trapped inside the same whirlwind of thoughts.

And for the first time...

neither of them wanted to escape it.