Page 177 of Untamed

I nod. “When I need to remember what peace felt like. Or to remind myself what I lost.”

She steps in closer, and peers up at me. “Thank you for bringing me.”

Her voice is soft and sincere.

I look at her and something in my chest twists in a way I can’t control.

“She would’ve liked you,” I admit. “You smile like she did, like you don’t belong in the dark.”

“You don’t belong there, either.” She states, pressing her small hand against my chest.

Her words land with more weight than she probably realises.

You don’t belong there, either.

I want to believe her. God help me, I do. But she’s never seen the worst of me, not really. Not the version of myself forged in blood and silence, the one who learned to survive by becoming something cold and unrecognisable.

Still… her hand stays pressed to my chest. Right over the spot that aches.

“I’ve lived in the dark my whole life, bambina,” I murmur. “It doesn’t let go of people like me.”

“Maybe not,” she says, her voice steady. “But maybe it can’t hold you the same way it used to. Not if there’s light pulling at you.”

Her eyes lift to mine, wide and clear. So fucking brave.

I stare at her, at the defiance in her softness. The way she looks at me, like I’m not a lost cause.

My hand slides up to her jaw. Thumb brushing along the curve of her cheek.

And I don’t say a word, I just kiss her.

Not to claim or to dominate. But tofeel.

To let her know that in this wreckage of vines and memories, in the place where something precious was taken from me, she’s become something I never saw coming. Something that makes mewantto stay.

Her lips are still soft against mine when I pull back, just enough to breathe. But I don’t let go of her. I wrap my arms around her waist and hold her against my chest, both of us facing the vineyard. It stretches out in front of us like a graveyard of something once loved.

Jordyn leans her head against my shoulder, silent for a beat.

Then, softly, she asks. “Why didn’t you keep it alive?”

I blink, the question sinking into my chest like a slow knife.

She doesn’t mean it to wound. I know that. But it still does. I exhale through my nose. “Because I didn’t know how.”

She turns in my arms just enough to glance up at me. “I was twelve, bambina. All I knew was that this place hurt to look at. Every stone, every row of vines, every bit of soil reminded me of her. I thought if I left it, if I let it rot, it would be like she was still here. That it would mourn with me.”

Jordyn’s eyes search mine. “And now?”

I pause. Long enough to let the truth rise.

“Now I think letting it die might’ve been the cruellest thing I could’ve done to her.”

The wind shifts. Birdsong carries faintly through the trees. Somewhere in the distance, a door creaks on rusted hinges. I look down at her again.

“You’re the first person to ever ask me that,” I say, and she turns in my arms, eyes drifting back over the rows of wild vines curling into the sky. “It’s not too late to change that.”

I frown, but Jordyn doesn’t look at me. She’s staring at the land like she sees something I can’t. “This place is stunning, Ares. I mean, really stunning. It’s not completely destroyed… it just needs someone to believe it’s still worth something.”

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