Page 37

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Everett

“A king’s line is rarely straight.”

Author Unknown

A sharp, shattering sound pierces the night. Even from where I wait by the back gate, I can see the glass glittering around the discarded flowers. Kerris’s window remains dark, and I know I need to get home before my absence is noticed, but I cannot bring myself to leave this spot because, once I do, I will never be back.

This affection that has grown between us is over.

It must be.

Just because the thought of walking away feels like I am choking on that broken glass does not mean it is not the right choice.

There is a reason our worlds are separated—and I have witnessed the consequences of flouting the rules firsthand.

With Kerris gone, there is nothing left to hold onto.

The pain in her eyes the moment I told her the truth of my situation was the same pain that I saw when she spoke about the tragedy that befell her mother. I never should have let it get this far. Never should have crossed the damn canyon to appease my own curiosity.

My fingers skim over my lips, still feeling the blissful pressure of hers. Her taste will forever live on my tongue, the sweetness of her innocence and kindness.

When I turn and drift away, it feels as if I am leaving a piece of myself behind.

* * *

To avoid the guards patrolling the streets of Rosehill, I am forced to keep to the dark side of the city, where the shadows stretch their invisible fingers toward the orange glow of the streetlamps. With everyone so frightened of a non-existent wolf, it is easy to cross without being spotted.

The two men guarding our side of the bridge stand when they see me coming, their hands falling to the daggers at their belts. Daggers that they earned for doing what they had to do. Just as I will earn my place in our village by putting my own selfish desires aside for the greater good.

I do not need a female who weeps at the sight of a flower.

I need one who stomps them dead beneath her boot as she races toward her prey, killing to provide for her family. To protect.

My mother was like Kerris, a delicate bloom. And she wilted right before my eyes.

My heart grows a little harder with each step I take down the bone-lined path, all the way to the camp. I climb the stairs to my barrel-top and duck beneath the low door. A fire blazes in the stove and a female waits in my bed, her hair as black as midnight and eyes as dark as the shadows surrounding us.

Leah sits up, the sheets falling to her bare waist. She takes one look at me and her eyes narrow. “Where have you been?”

A thousand lies spring to my mind. On a hunt. Checking the outpost. With Maddox and Gryff. Walking the trails. Collecting firewood.

So many lies but only one truth: Cutting out my own heart.

“Everett?”

The voice that calls my name is not the one I long to hear. Am I to exist for the rest of eternity wishing for a different life?

Do not settle for anything less than love.

Will I one day break beneath the weight of this love I carry for another? How am I supposed to do this? How can I move forward when I am so stuck on her?

The answer is so fucking simple.

I cannot.

I collect Leah’s dress from where she draped it over my chair, tossing it onto the bed. “Put this on.”

For once, she listens. Only once she is covered do I drop onto the edge of my mattress.

“What is it?” She gathers her hair into a queue, tying the short strands back from her face.

She is a good female. A strong, faithful female. I should just accept my fate. Learn to live this life spread in front of me. Except…

Forever is a long time for a male to live without a soul.

Even knowing the consequences of my actions, I steel my spine and speak my truth. “I cannot mate with you.” From the moment she asked, I should have known I was not meant to accept. “I want more, Leah.”

Once, I believed I could survive on friendship alone, but it is not enough. Curse me for my desires, but now that I know what it feels like to be utterly captivated, I cannot go back to the way things were.

She presses a hand to my chest, where my heart beats for another. “Then let me give you more.”

“You cannot.”

Realization crosses her face as I remove her hand from me. “You want more from someone else.”

My nod feels like the greatest betrayal of all. Not only am I about to lose a mate; I am about to lose a friend.

On this side of the canyon, friends are hard to come by.

Leah shoots to her feet, pacing from the door to where I sit, every move stiff. Calculated. “What is her name?”

I will not be giving Kerris’s name to Leah or anyone else, no matter the consequences.

“Her name, Everett Gathin.”

I clamp my jaw shut, prepared to take this secret to my grave. There is no telling what Leah would do if she found out.

Her hands ball into white-knuckled fists. “It is the Seelie bitch, yes?” Although I am certain my expression gives nothing away, her eyes widen, as if she can see into my mind. Into my heart. “I wonder if they need help collecting water this week.”

I push to my feet, ready to show her out before she says something that we will both regret.

Leah’s father would never allow her to cross the bridge. The females in our village are too precious to risk, and as peaceful as Rosehill might seem, that city is as dangerous for us as our side of the canyon is for them.

“I am sorry, Leah.”

“You are sorry , are you ? What is that pathetic apology supposed to do? Make me feel better?”

“I am not the one who lied about our relationship. This is a bed of your own making.”

“By not speaking up sooner, you were complicit in the lie. My father will never forgive you.”

“If you tell him the truth?—”

“And disgrace myself even more than you have disgraced me? No. I wish to see you abandoned just as you have abandoned me.”

“Leah, please?—”

She holds up a hand, her eyes as cold as death. “No. You do not get to say my name. You do not get to speak to me ever again. You are just like your wretched father, and when our chieftain hears about this, I have a feeling your fates will be the same.”

She stalks into the night and slams the door in her wake.

There is nothing to do now but suffer the consequences.