Chapter 7 #2
But my hands shake as I turn back toward the compound.
I need to see Jonah. Need to feel the bond between us. Need the reassurance that this is real, that I'm making the right choice, that staying is different from running.
Except when I reach the compound, Jonah is nowhere in sight.
Eli is carrying herbs toward the stone circle. I catch his arm. "Where's Jonah?"
"He took off about twenty minutes ago." Eli sets down the herbs, frowning. "Said he needed to clear his head before the ritual. Probably went to the old ranger cabin. That's where he goes when he needs to think."
The old ranger cabin. Where we went that first day.
"Thanks."
I head into the forest, following the path I walked that first day when everything was new and strange and terrifying. When I'd found a man collapsed in a clearing and watched him transform into a bear to protect me from shadow creatures.
The cabin appears through the trees, weathered wood and overgrown surroundings exactly as I remember. The door stands half-open.
I push it wider. "Jonah?"
He's sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, head tilted back, eyes closed. For a moment I just look at him—this man who fought through hell to get home, who carries corruption in his veins, who looked at me and saw his mate.
"I know you're there," he says without opening his eyes.
"Then why aren't you looking at me?"
His jaw tightens. "Because if I look at you, I'm going to tell you not to do this. And that's not my choice to make."
I step inside, closing the distance between us. "Jonah—"
"You should go back." His eyes open, fixing on me with intensity that makes my breath catch. "To your career. To your life."
"What?"
"I've been thinking." He pushes to his feet, putting space between us like he can't trust himself too close.
"This is insane. We barely know each other.
Three days ago you didn't even know shifters existed, and now I'm asking you to tie yourself to me permanently.
To risk your life. To give up your humanity. "
"I thought we already decided—"
"I decided. I pushed you into this because I'm selfish and desperate and I want to live." His voice cracks. "But you should have more time. You should have the chance to really think about what you're giving up."
"Jonah Hayes, are you seriously trying to push me away right now?" Anger flares hot in my chest. "After everything we've said to each other?"
"I'm trying to give you a choice."
"I already made my choice. Multiple times. I chose you in the cabin. I chose you at the convergence point. I'm choosing you now." I step closer despite his attempt to retreat. "Unless you've changed your mind. Unless you don't want—"
"Don't want you?" He closes the distance between us in two strides, cupping my face. "I've wanted you since the moment my bear recognized you. I've thought about nothing but you for days... months. The idea of losing you now—"
He breaks off, breathing hard.
"Then what's this about?"
"Your friend. The guy in the rental car." He steps back. "I saw you talking to him. Saw the way he looked at you. Like he knows you. Like he has history with you."
Oh. "Derek."
"Is that his name?" Jonah's voice is carefully neutral. "He came to bring you back?"
"He came to try."
"And?"
"And I told him no." I reach for Jonah's hand, lacing our fingers together. "I told him I found something worth staying for."
Some of the tension leaves his shoulders. "He said something that upset you. I could feel it through the bond."
"He said I'm running. That staying here is just another way of hiding from my problems." The admission tastes bitter. "He's not entirely wrong. I have run before. I've left things behind rather than risk being hurt."
"Is that what this is?" Jonah's eyes search mine. "Are you running to me or away from something else?"
The question sits heavy between us.
"Maybe both," I say honestly. "And maybe that's okay."
"It's not okay if you're making this choice for the wrong reasons." He squeezes my hand once, then releases it. "I need to know you want this. Want me."
"I am afraid of everything else." My voice comes out raw. "I'm terrified. Of the ritual. Of dying. Of becoming something different. Of finally having something permanent and losing it anyway."
"Then maybe we should wait—"
"But I'm more terrified of walking away." I step into his space, palms flat against his chest, feeling his heart hammer. "Of going back to my old life. Of never knowing what we could have been. Of playing it safe and ending up alone."
He covers my hands with his, holding them against his heart. His forehead drops to mine. "Even if it all goes wrong?"
"Especially then."
He exhales. "What did I do to deserve you?"
"You fought your way home. That counts for something."
We stand there breathing each other in, the bond humming between us warm and solid. He slides fingers into my hair, tilting my head back so he can kiss me. This kiss is different from the others—slower, deeper, layered with every fear and hope and desperate need we've been carrying.
When we break apart, we're both shaking.
"We should go back," I say. "Before they send a search party."
"In a minute." He pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me like he can shield me from everything coming. "Just let me hold you for a minute."
So we stand there in the abandoned ranger cabin holding each other while the sun drops lower toward the horizon. While the ley lines hum beneath our feet. While shadow creatures gather in the dark.
Finally, Jonah releases me. Takes my hand. "Ready?"
"No. But let's do it anyway."
We walk back toward the compound together, fingers laced, bond singing between us. The stone circle comes into view through the trees, torches burning bright against the gathering dusk.
Then we hear the screaming.
Jonah breaks into a run, pulling me with him. We burst into the clearing and chaos greets us.
Shadow creatures everywhere. Not the scattered, confused things I've seen before. These move with purpose, with coordination, flowing around the compound like a living tide.
But they're not attacking randomly.
They're hunting.
Calder stands in the center of the stone circle, arms raised, energy crackling around him as he works to contain the creatures.
Eli and Beau fight back-to-back, shifting between human and bear forms with fluid grace.
Sawyer has shifted fully, a massive grizzly swatting shadow creatures away from the cottages.
Cilla, Anabeth, and Quinn fight in their bear forms, protecting the perimeter with coordinated strikes.
The creatures keep coming.
And they're all moving toward the same target. Toward me and Jonah.
"They're not random," Jonah says, voice tight. "They're organized. Tactical."
One of the larger creatures breaks from the pack, moving faster than the others. Its eyes glow violet-bright, fixed on us with predatory focus.
"They're hunting for something specific," I breathe.
The creature lunges.
Jonah shifts in a swirl of silvery mist, his massive bear form placing itself between me and the threat. His roar shakes the trees.
The shadow creature doesn't retreat.
It watches. Calculates. And behind it, dozens more emerge from the forest.
All of them moving toward us.