Chapter 6
Chapter Six
The bonfire crackled against the October darkness, throwing golden light across the private stretch of beach Lily had claimed for the night.
She'd spent an hour building it, arranging all the driftwood just so. After spreading a blanket on the sand, she’d set out bottles of their autumn ale and the container of still-warm bread she'd found in the kitchen of the brewpub. Her hands had shaken the entire time.
It had surprised her so much to be hired by Gray for the brewery, but so much had happened since then. And now she had more on the line than ever.
The beach flowers had started blooming around her halfway through the setup.
Small white petals pushing up through the sand, delicate stems reaching for the firelight.
She hadn't meant to do it. Her magic leaked out when she was nervous, responding to emotions she couldn't quite control.
At least they were pretty. Hopeful, even.
He'll either understand or he won't.
The thought settled in her chest, heavy and familiar.
This was the moment she’d feared before her arrival.
Gray had demanded answers, and she'd promised to give them. But more than that, she wanted to give them. She had to know if he could handle the truth about her. And more importantly, if she’d still be welcome.
The sound of boots pounding on sand made her pulse jump.
She turned as Gray emerged from the path, his broad shoulders blocking out the stars.
He moved like he always did, careful and controlled, scanning the darkness before his gaze finally locked on hers.
Even from here, she could see the gold threading through his irises, the wild shimmer that only appeared when his wolf pressed too close to the surface.
"Sit down." She gestured to the blanket, forcing brightness into her voice that she didn't quite feel. "Eat something. We're safe here."
He didn't sit. His gaze swept the tree line, the water, and the stretch of beach in both directions. Everything but her. The tension rolled off him in waves. She could almost taste it in the salt air, sharp and electric.
"Gray." She waited until he looked at her. "Please."
For a moment, she thought he'd refuse. Maybe even demand they go back to the distillery where pack members could overhear, where she'd have an excuse to keep her secrets close.
But something in her voice must have gotten through because he finally settled onto the blanket, though he stayed coiled tight.
Ready to move. His hands flexed against his thighs, restless.
"Beer?" She held out a bottle, pleased when her hand stayed steady.
He took it but didn't drink, just held it loosely between his palms. "What are we doing here, Lily?"
"Having a conversation like you requested." She opened her own bottle, the caps clinking together in the quiet. "But away from the distillery and pack ears."
His jaw tightened, that muscle jumping beneath the scruff. "Because you're finally going to tell me what you're running from, right?"
She took a long pull from her beer, the autumn spices sharp and familiar on her tongue.
The cinnamon burned going down. Around them, the beach flowers had spread, tiny blooms opening to the firelight like they were listening.
Green shoots sprouted from the driftwood she'd arranged, new growth reaching for the flames with delicate tendrils.
"My coven wants something from me." The words came easier than she'd expected, maybe because she'd practiced them in her head a hundred times. Or because part of her was desperate to share the weight she'd been carrying alone. "Something I won't give them."
Gray's attention sharpened, it fixed on her with an intensity that made her want to bolt and lean closer at the same time. The gold in his eyes brightened. "What?"
"My magic." She traced patterns in the sand, the movement giving her hands something to do. Spirals and curves that meant nothing and everything. "They want to bind it. Take control of it through a ritual."
"Why?" The word came out rough, more growl than question.
"Because they think I'm dangerous." The fire flared higher as her emotions spiked, flames licking toward the stars.
She forced herself to breathe, to stay calm.
"They think my power is too wild and strong to leave under my sole control.
The binding would transfer it to the coven.
They could direct it, channel it, use it however they wanted.
" Her fingers dug into the sand, the grains cool and gritty.
"I wouldn't be able to touch it anymore.
It would still exist, but it would no longer be mine. I would be cut off."
Gray leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. The firelight caught the sharp planes of his face, throwing shadows beneath his cheekbones. "And if you refuse?"
"I already refused." She met his gaze and held it.
"That's why I'm here. I ran three thousand miles with everything I owned in my car and fear chasing me every single mile.
Because I'd rather die than give them that.
" The words came out fierce, and she didn't try to soften them.
"This is who I am, Gray. My magic isn't some separate thing I carry around like a weapon.
It's woven through everything. It’s how I see the world, how I move through it, how I breathe. Losing it would be too much."
She watched him process that, the way his brow furrowed, and his lips pressed together. The fire crackled between them, popping sparks into the darkness. Small waves lapped at the shore in a steady rhythm that should have been soothing but only made her more aware of her racing pulse.
Gray was silent for a long time, his eyes reflecting the flames.
She could see him thinking, turning it over in his mind.
Trying to understand. The gold in his eyes had dimmed a little, the wolf retreating as the man took over.
He tilted his head slightly, studying her, and with a sink in her stomach, she knew what was coming before he opened his mouth.
"Would that really be so bad?"
His question ripped through her defenses.
Lily went completely still. Around them, the beach flowers withered instantly, petals browning and falling away. The fire dimmed to almost nothing, reduced to sullen embers that barely pushed back the darkness.
"What?" Her voice came out flat. Still.
"I mean—" Gray set down his beer and leaned forward.
That crease between his brows deepened. "You'd be safer.
The pack would be safer. You wouldn't have to worry about losing control or being hunted.
You could stay here without bringing danger.
" He reached toward her, his hand stopping halfway across the blanket. "We could figure out the rest."
The rest.
As if there would be a rest. The words echoed in her skull, hollow and crushing. As if her magic was the real problem. And somehow she'd be better off without the one thing that made her who she was.
"You want me neutered." The words scraped out of her throat, raw and shaking.
"That's not what I said." Confusion flickered across his face.
"You said losing my magic wouldn’t be so bad." Her hands curled into fists in the sand. “Somehow you heard ‘they want to bind my power’ and thought reasonable compromise.”
"I’m trying to understand the situation—"
"No, you’re trying to solve the problem. Me." The fire flared back to life, responding to her rising anger. “You heard me say I’d rather die than let them bind me, and your response is to ask me if that would be so bad. Like it’s just a simple matter of weighing the pros and cons."
Gray’s brow furrowed. "I'm trying to help—"
"No!" The word exploded out of her, and her magic exploded with it. She surged to her feet, and the flames of the fire shot ten feet high, painting the beach blood-orange. Heat blasted across her face, fierce enough to sting. "I thought you were different. All that talk about me being your…"
Vines burst from the sand around the bonfire, thick and thorny, their roses blood-red even in the darkness.
The driftwood she'd so carefully arranged earlier sprouted branches.
No longer the delicate green shoots of hope but twisted, angry things covered in spikes.
More flowers erupted across the beach, pushing up through the sand in violent waves.
Night-blooming plants that would close their petals around anything that touched them and not let go.
Gray stood too, his movements careful. Wary. Like she was a wild animal that might bolt or attack. "Lily—"
"Don't." She took a step back, then another, and the sand beneath her feet sprouted grass, then flowers, then thorns that grabbed at her ankles. The pain was distant, unimportant. "You think I’m overreacting. That I should just let them take my magic for everyone’s safety.
I thought you saw me. Me. Not just the witch or the threat or the magical brewer who makes your beer taste better.
I thought maybe—" Her voice cracked and she hated herself for it.
"I thought maybe the island could be home.
That the pack might protect me because you wanted me here, not just my power. "
"I do want you here—"
"You want a version of me that I can’t be." The fury burned through her veins, hot enough to make her shake. "You want me tame. Safe. Powerless enough that you don't have to worry about what I might do."
Gray's face shifted, confusion giving way to something else. His eyes widened slightly. "That's not—"
"It's exactly what you meant." Her voice shook with rage and hurt and the awful, crushing weight of disappointment.
"You're just like everyone else. You're just like them.
The only difference is you had the decency to suggest it nicely instead of holding me down and forcing it.
" She took another step back, and more thorns erupted around her.