Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Rain hits first.
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It slams into stone like the sky is pissed off and taking it personally. Cold needles soak through my clothes the second I push past the balcony doors, the scent of wet iron and lightning clinging to everything.
The Imperial Pack sprawls below–roofs slick and shining, guards moving like dark blots in the rain, torches guttering and refusing to die. It’s loud out here. Thunder rolls low and long, vibrating through the railing under my palms.
I don’t look back right away. I don’t need to.
I can feel Wade behind me. His presence still has weight, which pisses me off more than it should. Familiar things tend to do that–linger even after you’ve outgrown them.
Alaric’s wolf is quiet now. Not gone. Just leashed. I made sure of that before I walked away. The moment his breathing evened, the moment the gold in his eyes settled instead of churning like molten metal, I stepped back. He watched me go with that sharp, unreadable look that makes other wolves nervous and makes me want to bare my teeth and smile at the same time.
I grip the balcony railing harder, fingers already numb from the cold.
“How’s the pack been?” I ask Wade, voice calm, almost bored. Like we’re discussing weather patterns instead of the corpse that nearly happened five minutes ago.
There’s a pause behind me. A hesitation too long to be accidental.
“Fine,” Wade says. Then, like he realizes how thin that sounds, he adds, “We’ve been doing okay. Holding together. Some unrest, but nothing unusual p>
Okay. That’s a fucking lie.
I don’t turn around yet. I listen to the rain. The wind shifts, blows spray against my face, tastes like stone and ozone. Somewhere below, a wolf howls–short, cut off fast.
Wade clears his throat. “You shouldn’t have been treated like that,” he continues quickly. “The elder was drunk. I’ll see to it that he’s punished. Severely. That kind of disrespect p>
“I didn’t ask about discipline,” I say, still facing the grounds. “I asked about the pack p>
Silence again. Thicker this time.
He steps closer. I hear it in the change of the rain’s sound, the way his boots scrape stone. “You’re hurt,” he says, softer now. “Your face–Sorin, I didn’t know p>
“I said don’t drag this out p>
That finally does it. I turn.
11:09 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 72
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Wade looks… older. Not physically he still carries himself like the Alpha he thinks he deserves to be — but there’s something frayed at the edges now.
Lines at his mouth that weren’t there before. His eyes flick past my cheek, to the faint bruise already blooming under my skin, then back up like he’s afraid to linger. Is he overworking himself?
“I just want to talk,” he says.
“I know,” I reply. “That’s the problem p>
“Were you… were you the one who saved me in that fire?” he asks and my mind goes back to the same fire that happened in the palace, where he and Ariel were staying.
“What difference does it make?” I ask.
I move past him, brushing his shoulder as I head further down the balcony, toward the corner where the stone juts out and the rain comes down harder. I don’t look back, but I hear him follow after a second’s delay.
Power shift confirmed.
I stop again, hands back on the railing. Rain runs down my wrists, cold enough to sting old scars. “Do you know what the strangest part of exile was?” I ask casually.
Wade frowns. “Sorin p>
“I learned how quiet the world gets when you’re no longer useful,” I continue. “No guards. No council. No one watching your every breath to see if it benefits them. Just… silence. It does things to you p>
He opens his mouth, then closes it.
Good.
I turn slowly, rain plastering my hair to my face, my clothes heavy and soaked. “I’m not here to yell,” I say. “I’m not here to beg. I just came to say what I came to say p>
That’s when he moves.
Fast. Too fast. Both of his hands close around mine, warm and desperate, fingers digging in like I might disappear if he loosens his grip. The contact jolts through me–not affection, not longing. Shock. Pure and sharp.
“Sorin, please,” he says, voice breaking just enough to sound real. “Come back. Come home. We can fix this p>
My body goes still. Not because I want to be held. Because I need a second to process the sheer fucking audacity of what’s coming out of his mouth.
“I forgive you,” he rushes on, words tumbling over each other. “For everything. For the poisoning attempt on me. For leaving. For aligning yourself with him. We can move past it. You can still be Luna p>
There it is.
11:09 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 72
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I stare at him, rain dripping off my lashes, my mind struggling to catch up with the stupidity I just heard. “You… forgive me,” I repeat slowly.
“Yes,” he says eagerly, mistaking my tone for hesitation instead of disbelief. “The pack needs you. I need you p>
1 laugh.
It slips out sharp and ugly, a sound torn straight from my chest. “Oh my God,” I say, breathless. “You’re actually serious p>
Wade stiffens. “Sorin p>
“You still think I poisoned you,” I say flatly. This can’t be fu cking true.
His jaw tightens. “All the evidence pointed to you p>
I yank one hand free. “The evidence Ariel brought you p>
He flinches. Just a little. Enough to piss me off.
“I understand you’re angry,” he says, trying for calm, like I’m a problem he can reason through. “You went through trauma. Anyone would be emotional p>
“Don’t,” I snap. “Do not reduce this to emotion. I am stating facts p>
He reaches for me again. I step back this time, rain soaking us both as thunder cracks overhead. “You want me back,” I say. “You want your Luna. But you won’t let go of the woman who framed me p>
“She’s an asset,” he says automatically. “A saintess. The pack p>
“-can’t afford to lose her,” I finish for him. “I know the script p>
His voice drops. “You wouldn’t even have to interact with her much. She’d remain a concubine. That’s all p>
Something in me goes very, very still. Would the old me have accepted these conditions in the guise that I would remain by his side?
“And the baby?” I ask quietly.
He hesitates.
That’s answer enough, but he keeps going anyway. “We only need the child,” he says. “Once it’s born, it doesn’t have to stay with her. You could raise it. As your own. So you can. so you can have a child p>
The rain intensifies, like the sky itself is reacting to him. It runs down his face in streaks, soaks his clothes, turns his hair dark and plastered to his forehead. He looks almost pathetic standing there, pleading, soaked to
the bone.
I feel… hollow.
Not angry. Not even hurt. Just empty, it’s as if something finally snapped clean instead of tearing slowly.
11:09 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 72
“You want me to raise the product of my own execution,” I say softly.
“It wouldn’t be like that p>
“It would be exactly like that p>
He takes a step toward me. “Please. I need you. I love you, Sorin p>
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I look past him, through the rain, at the Woodridge Pack grounds stretching endlessly below. This place is dangerous. Brutal. I knew I shouldn’t have come back.
And somehow, standing here with Wade, I’ve never felt safer being gone.
“I already died once,” I say. “I’m not doing it again for your convenience p>
Thunder booms, shaking the balcony.
Wade’s mouth opens. Closes. Opens again.
The rain keeps falling.
And I know–without doubt–that whatever comes next will burn everything that’s left.
“Sorin, please p>
“Wade! You chose her!” my voice is raised now and I could feel the tears forming at the corner of my eyes. Don’t do this. Fuck, don’t cry right now, Sorin.
“Please… come back to me p>
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