Page 211 of Fractured Devotion
I lift a shoulder, keeping my voice light. “Nothing surprises me anymore.”
But inside, I’m tightening.
Because I can feel the suspicion beneath his words. The unspoken question neither of us is brave enough to ask aloud.
Do you know who’s doing this?
And worse.
Are you protecting him?
I meet his stare, calm and collected, keeping every sharp thought behind my teeth. “I don’t have to be surprised,” I say instead. “I just have to be ready.”
Alec leans back, watching me with something heavier in his eyes.
“You’ve changed,” he says, not as an accusation, but as a fact.
“I had to,” I reply.
“But what happens to the part of you that doesn’t come back?” he asks softly.
I don’t answer immediately.
Instead, I study him—the man who once tried to save me, who still might, even if it destroys him.
“Maybe that part never really existed,” I murmur.
He watches me for a long moment, then nods. “If you ever need out of this, you know where to find me,” he says again, steady and firmly.
I offer a small, tired smile. “You’ve always been the escape plan, Alec.”
“And you’ve never taken it,” he replies, with something close to fondness.
“Not yet,” I say.
Then, I stand, smoothing my coat as the night calls me back.
Alec rises, too, but he doesn’t try to stop me. “Be careful,” he says, his voice low.
“Always,” I reply.
At the door, I pause, my hand resting on the handle. “You’re a good man, Alec,” I say, glancing back.
He gives me a small, wry smile. “And you’re not as heartless as you want to be.”
I leave without another word, stepping into the cold air, my chest tighter but lighter at once.
Some doors aren’t meant to be closed.
I keep walking.
And I don’t look back.
Chapter 60 – Kade - A Wolf’s Goodbye
Night has fully settled over the city, casting everything below in a haze of streetlights and neon.
I sit at the edge of a rooftop, high enough to watch the streets bleed into shadows, but low enough to hear the distant sirens.
