Chapter 7

• Nysa POV
• Sleep was impossible.
• Every time I shut my eyes, I saw the flash of Darius’s stare, the way the Elders’ words burned through the air: she belongs to the Nightfang Alpha.
• Belongs.
• Like I was a thing.
• I sat outside the tent, legs drawn to my chest, staring at the ashes of the bonfire. The night smelled of smoke and pine and humiliation.
• Myra’s footsteps were soft behind me. She didn’t bother asking if she could sit; she just dropped beside me and wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders.
• “You planning to glare at that fire all night?” she asked.
• “Maybe.”
• “You’ll win. It already looks scared.”
• I laughed, short and dry. “Good.”
• We sat like that a while, listening to the wind. She was the only person who could sit in silence and not make it awkward.
• Finally, she nudged me with her elbow. “You know, I could remind you it could be worse.”
• “Don’t start.”
• She ignored that. “You remember what happened when I tried to fight my bond.”
• “I remember.” My voice went quiet. “You nearly died.”
• She shrugged, eyes fixed on the embers. “I was young. Stupid. Thought I could choose differently. But the bond doesn’t care what we think.”
• “You also got the worst possible mate,” I muttered.
• Her laugh was hollow but real. “That too. But I’m still here. He’s out there doing whatever he does, and I’m breathing. That counts for something.”
• It did. And it didn’t. I’d been there the night she collapsed—Ronan and I dragging her back when the pain hit her because her mate was with someone else. I still remembered the sound she made. Wolves didn’t scream often. That night, she did.
• She glanced sideways at me. “Don’t look at me like that, Nys. I’m not telling you to fall in love with him. I’m just saying… don’t try to break what the moon tied. It doesn’t end well.”
• “I’m not planning to break it,” I said, even though that’s exactly what I wanted to do. “I’m planning to ignore it.”
• She snorted. “Good luck. It’s not a mosquito bite, it’s a bond. It’ll keep poking at you until you deal with it.”
• Lyssa purred inside my head. She’s right. You can’t run from him.
• “Watch me,” I said under my breath.
• Myra arched a brow. “Talking to Lyssa again?”
• “She won’t shut up.”
• “She’s a wolf, not a therapist. Maybe listen once in a while.”
• “Or maybe she should mind her business.”
• That got me another nudge. “You’re impossible.”
• “Thanks.”
• For a long while we just listened to the forest. Somewhere, wolves howled—some real, some shifted. It rolled through the trees like music.
• Myra finally said, “You know what I think?”
• “Please, enlighten me.”
• “I think he’s dangerous, sure. But not cruel.”
• I stared at her. “You sound like Ronan’s going to disown you for even saying that.”
• She shrugged. “Ronan’s not always right. Your father wasn’t either. You know that.”
• I didn’t answer. We didn’t talk much about my father. The last few years of his life had made sure of that. I remembered whispers of girls gone missing, money changing hands, promises he’d made to darker things. Darius hadn’t lied about any of it.
• “You think he had a reason,” I said quietly.
• “I think reasons exist whether we like them or not.”
• We sat until the fire was nothing but ash. Myra yawned. “Anyway, if you’re cursed to the scariest Alpha in the Outskirts, at least he’s easy on the eyes. The Goddess could’ve stuck you with worse. Like his Beta.”
• That earned her a look. “The tall one with the attitude?”
• She smirked. “Yeah. He’s not that bad once you stop wanting to punch him.”
• “I’ll take your word for it.”
• “Maybe don’t,” she said, stretching. “I make bad choices.”
• We both laughed, and for a second it almost felt normal again. Then she stood and offered me her hand.
• “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get some sleep before your brother decides to storm the Nightfang camp and get himself killed.”
• I took her hand, letting her pull me up. “If he tries, I’m not stopping him.”
• “Yes, you are,” she said. “Because you’re smarter than him.”
• I didn’t feel smart. I felt like a puppet caught in someone else’s story.
• But Myra was right about one thing—there were worse fates than being tied to Darius Fenwick. I just hadn’t decided yet if he was one of them.