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Callum stepped closer, his eyes hard. “Kael’s not the one you need to worry about.”

I didn’t look back at Callum, even as I heard his steps trailing behind me.

I just had to get to her.

I reached the old well, my boots crunching against the gravel path, the sound louder than it should have been in the quiet morning. My heart thudded in my chest, a mix of concern and... something else. Something darker.

There they were, standing just a few feet away, barely visible through the brush. Annika and Kael.

They were talking, sitting close… too close.

She was mine, wasn’t she? The thought gnawed at me, the jealousy settling in my bones.

Kael, as always, looked so calm, so unbothered. He was saying something, his hand gesturing to the trees in a way that looked almost playful. But his eyes, those eyes... I couldn’t stop staring. They were too calculated, too sharp, like he was constantly sizing up the world. And in that moment, it felt like he was sizing up Annika too.

I clenched my jaw, my gaze narrowing. He was too damn close.

I didn’t trust him. Not even after everything. Not after he’d come through for us, not after he’d infiltrated the camp. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. Something I couldn’t put into words.

I stayed there, hidden in the shadows, watching them. I told myself I wasn’t going to make a scene. Annika wouldn’t want me to. She’d be angry if I stormed over there, if I let jealousy get the better of me.

But the feeling was still there, gnawing at me, wrapping around my chest tighter with every second that passed. I hated how my emotions were so tangled, so raw.

I didn’t want to be this person, the one who couldn’t control himself, the one who acted on instinct without thinking of the consequences. Annika didn’t deserve that. She didn’t deserve me making things harder for her, making her feel suffocated.

So I stayed back, watching them. Kael, ever the calm one, gesturing with his hands, saying something to her. And Annika, with that smile of hers that always seemed to melt my insides.

I turned away slightly, leaning back against the trunk of a nearby tree, trying to get my bearings. My thoughts were scattered, my emotions all over the place.

That’s when I heard it.

“Lucas.” Callum had followed me. He sighed, shaking his head. “You’re worried, but you don’t need to be.”

I breathed heavily, wordlessly.

He met my eyes, his expression serious, not a hint of doubt in his voice. “Annika loves you. You know that, right?”

I felt my breath catch in my throat. The words, so simple, so raw, hit me in a way I didn’t expect. I had spent so long convincing myself that I wasn’t good enough for her, that she deserved better than someone like me. And yet, Callum was looking at me like he was certain of something I wasn’t.

“I—” I couldn’t finish the thought. I wasn’t sure I even knew how to respond.

“Listen, you’ve fought for her,” Callum continued, his voice softer now. “And you’ll keep fighting. But you can’t let doubt take over. She’s not going anywhere. She’s with you, and she always will be.”

I looked back at Annika. She was still talking to Kael, but now, it felt different. Her posture, the way she tilted herhead, the way she looked at him—everything felt like a warning. Something that had been creeping at the edge of my thoughts, something I hadn’t wanted to admit.

But Callum’s words resonated in a way that made it impossible to ignore.

I didn’t want to be afraid of losing her. I didn’t want to doubt what we had, what we’d fought for.

Still, it was hard to shake the fear that something might slip through my fingers, that despite everything, I wasn’t enough for her.

But Callum was right.

Annika loved me. And that was something I needed to remember—especially now.

Callum’s words were still echoing in my mind as I turned away from the trees and started walking back toward the town. I didn’t have the luxury of lingering on feelings, not now, not with everything that was at stake. But a part of me, the part I usually kept buried, wanted to believe him.

I couldn’t be weak. I couldn’t be the kind of man who let his doubts control him. Annika deserved better than that, better than me faltering when I was supposed to be strong for her.