Chapter 8 - Naia
Being out here helps, even if I don’t want to admit that. I certainly don’t admit that, regardless of it being true.
Ashford is nothing like the island. Everything is louder, faster, brighter, and there’s too much going on. It’s overwhelming, but there’s something about it that feels open in a way, like you could disappear into it if you really wanted to.
Not that I would, and not that Zane would let me anyway.
My place is on the island with my pack after I fix what went wrong.
Still, it’s different, and after being stuck in Zane’s apartment for days, even remotely different feels like relief.
Walking a step ahead of him now, I let the forest swallow some of that restless energy that’s been clawing at me since he dragged me out here, and since the tension changed between us.
The air is cooler, cleaner, and for a few minutes, I almost forget how much I want to shove him off the nearest cliff. Almost.
We were off to a good start, but of course, that could only last for so long, and now, I feel a bit ridiculous for being as vulnerable with him as I was. I never should’ve let on just how much it bothered me when he left Wraith Peak.
I glance back at him, still vaguely annoyed with myself. “Are you just going to hover like that all day?”
Zane takes a slow breath. “I’m not hovering.”
“You’re watching me like I’m about to explode.”
“You might.”
I roll my eyes and keep moving, well aware of what he’s implying. “If I wanted to, I would’ve tried already.”
“I know.”
Of course he does. That’s the thing that bothers me…how much he thinks he still knows about me, substantiated or not.
I turn back around with a tight jaw, trying to focus on the nature around me rather than his constant awareness and the way he tracks everything I do like he’s waiting for me to make a mistake. He sees me as something to manage and contain, and the thought irritates me all over again.
But something nearby moves. It’s subtle and faint, but I slow as that wrong feeling settles in.
The moment Zane notices, he’s right behind me, voice in my ear. “Don’t.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I mutter, brows furrowing as I glance at him.
He holds my gaze for a moment, looking for any sign of a lie, then he huffs out a quiet breath before scanning the trees around us.
The air changes just enough to be noticeable, and a scent carries on the wind, and we both stop to inspect it. It’s familiar in a way that makes something cold coil in my chest.
To our left, a brief movement catches my eye, and I tense, but Zane’s hand closes around my arm before I can take a step.
“Stay,” he murmurs, low and not leaving any room for argument.
The proximity makes my skin prickle, but I don’t argue. Not yet, anyway.
We move together, quieter now, and we slip behind a cluster of trees. The brush conceals us as he keeps close, but regardless of how near he is, I don’t pull away this time.
Not when I’m focused and too curious to look away from the scene ahead of us.
Voices drift through the trees, both low and controlled. They’re distinctly male, and my chest tightens as three of them step into view.
Recognition hits instantly like a blade sliding between my ribs.
I know those faces and scents. Even when I was overpowered and suppressed by whatever magic they used on me, I memorized their smells and features.
They’re the ones who took me and pinned me down while that magic tore through me. They sold me off like livestock, and now they’re still here, lurking in the woods. Their business obviously isn’t finished yet.
Rage floods my system so fast it makes my vision sharpen and my pulse roar in my ears. More than anything, I want to lunge at them and show them exactly what I’m capable of.
“They’re here,” I breathe, barely containing it.
“I see that,” Zane replies, voice low, steady. He glances at me as I shift my weight forward on Instinct. He wastes no time tightening his grip on my arm, and his brows furrow. “Don’t even think about it.”
“I’m not letting them walk away.”
“Yes, you are. For now, anyway,” he tells me, saying exactly what I don’t want to hear.
My head snaps toward him, barely containing my rage both for those men and Zane for trying to interfere. “They took me. Sold me.”
“And we’re going to figure out why.”
“I already know why.”
“You don’t know enough.”
“I know that I want to kill them.”
The words come out sharp and absolute, making Zane’s jaw tighten. He doesn’t let up on his hold. “That’s not happening.”
I move anyway, just a step, and that’s all it takes.
He reacts instantly, arm wrapping around me and pulling me back hard against him before I can break cover, one hand clamps over my mouth to cut off the sound that almost escapes.
Everything in me goes still.
Immediately, I’m caught and pinned. He’s holding me, and that thought alone sends something I don’t recognize through me.
Zane’s body is solid behind mine, his grip unyielding as he drags me tighter into the shadows. His hand is firm over my mouth, and his other arm is locked around my middle, holding me in place like I weigh nothing.
“Don’t,” he breathes against my ear, his voice barely more than a whisper. “...Move.”
My pulse spikes, and regardless of the wolves standing not far from us, it isn’t because of them.
It’s from this…the suffocating proximity.
His chest presses against my back, steady and warm, and the way his breath brushes my skin puts me on edge. His hold doesn’t waver for a second, like he knows exactly how much force to use to keep me still.
It’s wrong, I know it is, but my body reacts anyway.
Heat flickers low in my chest, loud and unwanted as it tangles with the anger already there. Then, it curls lower, warming my skin in a traitorous way.
No part of me should be responding at all to him or his touch, but it’s instinctive and completely out of my control. This is completely new territory for me, since Zane was always respectful and reserved before. He never manhandled me like this.
I hate it, and I hate him for it. More so, I hate how easily it puts me off kilter.
So, I focus on the rage instead, and on the wolves in front of us, on what they did.
As it builds inside me, and I don’t feel his grip on me loosen, I bite him. Teeth sinking into his palm hard, I savor the immediate satisfaction it brings me.
Zane’s body tenses instantly behind me, and a sharp inhale catches between his teeth, but he doesn’t make a sound otherwise. He still doesn’t let go, and it makes me despise his stubbornness.
His hand tightens just slightly, not enough to hurt, but just enough to remind me who’s in control of this moment.
“What the fuck, Naia?” he asks under his breath, gritting his own teeth.
I glare at him over his hand, and like usual, he ignores it.
Instead, we stay like that, locked together and unmoving, while the wolves continue talking.
I force myself to listen and focus, and to not tear free and go for their throats at any cost. As much as I want to more than anything, Zane would have my head for it, and he’s already unimpressed.
“Delivery was clean,” one of them says, their voices carrying just enough for us to catch.
“Not clean enough,” another replies. “There was interference.”
My stomach twists, not knowing what they’re talking about.
“They still got what they needed,” the first one says. “That’s what matters.”
Needed. The word echoes in my head, and I can’t shake the questions that start piling up. What could anyone possibly need with abducted shifters or potential magic users?
“When’s the next shipment moving?” the third asks.
“Soon. We’re waiting on confirmation.”
My nails dig into my palms, and my breath comes out a bit harder through my nose while Zane keeps my mouth covered.
They’re still taking wolves and selling them. Regardless of Zane’s presence at the auction and participation, they’re continuing business as usual. If they know anything about him, then they should be packing up and moving elsewhere rather than pushing their luck.
My vision edges with red, furious from what that implies.
Zane shifts slightly behind me, just enough to keep me grounded. He still doesn’t let me go out of fear of me doing exactly what I want to.
Even though I hate that he’s right, we should wait and think, so that’s exactly what we do while their impromptu meeting in the woods continues.
The men fall quiet after a few minutes, and just like that, it’s done.
They disperse quickly, slipping back into the trees like they were never there, allowing silence to settle over the forest again. It’s tense and stifling again, but neither of us moves.
Zane doesn’t let go immediately. Instead, he waits and listens, silently tracking their steps until he’s certain they won’t be coming back. Only when he’s sure they’re gone does his hand finally drop from my mouth. His arm stays around me for a second longer, making me feel the warmth of him.
Then, he steps back, and the loss of contact is immediate. More than anything, it’s annoying, and I push that thought away just as fast.
“What the hell was that?” I snap, turning on him.
“And what the hell was that?” he fires back, holding up his hand. “You bit me.”
“You were holding me hostage.”
“I was keeping you from blowing our cover, since that was obviously your plan,” Zane mutters, eyes sharp.
“They were right there!”
“And you could’ve gotten yourself killed,” he shoots back. Then he scoffs. “You would have.”
“I could’ve taken them.”
“You couldn’t even get out of my grip.”
That stings, only because it’s true, and I scowl.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” I tell him, more serious now. “They took me, and I’m not just going to sit back and watch them walk away.”
His eyes narrow at me, more like he’s dealing with a petulant child than anything else. “And I’m not going to let you charge in without a plan.”
“I don’t need a plan.”
“Yes, you do,” Zane utters, not taking me seriously. “Given how you don’t seem to think so, that tells me all I need to know already.”
While my anger builds into something volatile in me, we stare at each other, and the tension snaps back into place like it never left.
“I had them,” I insist, hating how the thought of them getting away and continuing to use others gets under my skin. “I could’ve done something.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” Zane snaps, his voice quieter now but no less firm. His eyes betray just how angry he really is. “You were about to give us away.”
I open my mouth to argue, but I stop. Part of me knows he’s right again, and I hate that.
“You heard them,” he continues, facing me fully as he forces himself to calm with a deep breath. “This isn’t just about you. This is bigger, and you throwing yourself in the middle of it won’t help anyone.”
“I know that,” I snap. “Which is why I should be out there—”
“No.”
The word cuts clean through everything, both final and unyielding. It forces my hands to curl into fists again.
“You don’t get to keep deciding that.”
“I do if it keeps you alive,” he retorts, dark eyes just as determined as mine.
I glare at him in return, but he doesn’t back down. Knowing him, I’m not holding my breath.
His jaw clenches and unclenches, then he huffs and turns back toward the trail. “Let’s go.”
Regardless of his command, I don’t move. I stare at him, feet planted and prepared to protest.
“Naia,” Zane says, and when I don’t move, his expression drops. My name comes out sharper. “Naia.”
Something about the way he says it feels intimidating, and something in me wants to bend as a Beta would to their Alpha, but I force it down. He’s not my Alpha, and I don’t care about what he thinks I should and shouldn’t do.
“Next time,” I say quietly, my gaze still fixed on the trees where they disappeared while wave after wave of anger washes through me, “I won’t wait.”
His shoulders tense, but he doesn’t look surprised in the slightest. “Yeah. That’s what I’m worried about.”
I finally turn, falling into step beside him, but I don’t look at him, and I don’t bother to speak. I’m afraid that if I do, I might say something I can’t take back.
Or worse, I might admit that part of me is glad he stopped me.