Page 69 of Sage Haven

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That I was being played.

But even that didn’t lessen the pull I felt toward her.

It didn’t kill the instinct to protect her.

Even if I didn’t know what I was protecting.

Or why.

Because the second Castor showed me that bounty, the decision had already been made.

I didn’t need to think.

If I didn’t get to her first, someone else would.

And if they got their hands on her before I did…

If she was innocent… she’d never see the light of day again.

So, I made a plan.

Simple. Efficient.

Hold her hostage. Uncover the truth. Keep her alive. Get to Klay. End it.

It should be easy.

It was the kind of thing Castor and I had done a thousand times over.

But my focus was a fragile thing around her.

She had the power to unravel me with a glance.

With a single word.

With every unguarded moment she handed me, I became less of the man I was supposed to be.

And more of the thing I swore I’d never become.

The third time she walked away, I saw it.

The shift.

She didn’t run.

She didn’t fight.

She lingered.

Just for a second, but long enough for me to see the crack in her armor.

The defeat in her eyes.

Her spirit—once stubborn, feral, wild—was cracked and subdued.

And I hated myself for it.

But it was necessary.

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