Chapter 20 - Naia
I didn’t expect this…the bonfire, the laughter, the way they all fall into something so easy.
I’m just outside of it, close enough to feel the heat of the flames against my skin and for Zane to keep an eye on me, but far enough that no one has to pretend I belong in the middle of it. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
But the longer I sit here, the harder it is to ignore what’s happening around me and how it’s so unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
Isaac is arguing dramatically about something with Dominic, who is far too amused to stop egging him on. Luke, however, looks like he’d rather throw him into the fire than admit he’s enjoying the more chaotic energy his siblings bring into the mix.
“What happened to your integrity, huh?” Isaac asks, fixing him with a narrowed look, clearly accusing him of cheating again.
“Who said I had integrity?” Dominic returns with that same smirk he hasn’t abandoned all night.
Isaac’s eyes light up like he just scored the proof he needed. “See? You’ve been cheating this whole time.”
“It’s just a game, Isaac,” Zane offers, though I catch the slightly humored gleam in his eyes that helps soften his edges.
“Sure, it’s just a game now, but what happens when this becomes a gateway to more dishonesty?” Isaac proposes with a cocked brow. “Someone has to protect the moral code here.”
Eve snorts. “And you’re the one to do that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he shoots back. “Did you want to take over? I didn’t think you were done giggling at Dom yet.”
Immediately, she flushes and sputters on a response she can’t quite form, only to get more frustrated with herself. She flicks one of her cards at Isaac with a grumble, but is swiftly pulled closer to Dominic, who is grinning ear to ear.
“How cute,” he coos with an arm over her shoulder, to which Eve covers her face with both hands. “Precious Evelyn is all flustered.”
“Shut up.”
This earns her another chuckle from Dominic while Zane sighs and Luke mutters something under his breath that I don’t quite catch. Hunter laughs quietly, and even Caleb cracks the faintest hint of a smile.
It’s strange how they talk to each other. There’s no careful phrasing or constant awareness of where everyone stands in the hierarchy. They just talk, tease, and argue like it’s completely harmless, and this is normal to them.
It throws me off more than I want to admit, since I don’t have anything to compare it to.
Wraith Peak isn’t like this, and it never has been. You might have the occasional stolen moment in private, but nothing so open and shameless like this. Even at its calmest, there’s always an edge and a quiet reminder of where you stand.
Here, it feels lighter and less restrictive.
I shift slightly in my seat, drawing my knees up just a bit as I watch them, trying to understand it. In a way, it’s like I’m watching something I was never meant to see.
“You’re being especially quiet over there.”
I blink and look up to find Zeke watching me now with one brow raised slightly.
Not knowing what else to say, I murmur, “Am I?”
“Yeah,” he says. “It’s unsettling.”
A few of the others glance over with a touch of curiosity, but they don’t interrupt.
“That’s rich coming from you,” I mutter.
Zeke smirks slightly, as if that’s what he was hoping for. “See? That’s better.”
I roll my eyes, but something in my chest loosens just a fraction. I didn’t expect anyone to care enough to check in, even if only offhandedly.
“Alright,” Isaac cuts in, leaning forward slightly as he focuses on me. “I have a question.”
“That’s always dangerous,” Eve mutters.
Ignoring her, he points loosely in my direction. “You knew Zane before all this, right? Back in Wraith Peak?”
I stiffen slightly, not prepared for any questions. Hesitantly, I murmur, “Yeah.”
There’s a brief pause, like they’re waiting to see if I shut down or if I refuse to take this any further, but I don’t.
Isaac looks in Zane’s direction with a more mischievous look before returning to me. “What was he like?”
The question sounds genuine despite the tease in his voice, and it startles me all over again.
Without meaning to, I look at Zane, only to find his eyes are already on me with that same, steady focus. It seems like he’s waiting for my answer just as much as they are.
I avert my gaze and murmur. “He was different, I guess.”
“That’s not very helpful,” Hunter mutters.
“It’s not wrong.”
“Try again. Give us more than that,” Isaac encourages, pushing but not in an annoying way.
I exhale to myself, taking the time to really consider my words. “He wasn’t as intense as he is now. Not all the time, anyway.”
A few of them glance at him immediately with piqued interest, and I already know this isn’t going to be the end of it despite the new mortification that moves through his features.
Isaac grins, more invested now. “Do tell.”
Zane groans under his breath. “Don’t.”
Choosing to ignore him, even I find it a bit satisfying to know I have this on him. Rarely do I have the upper hand over him, and at least this is mostly harmless.
“He was easier to talk to,” I continue. “And less guarded. He could be pretty soft about some things, too.”
“That’s hard to imagine,” Dominic says, enjoying this just as much.
“Hey,” Zane shoots back with a narrowed, warning gaze. “It shouldn’t be.”
“It is,” Caleb adds. “You’re like a locked vault sometimes.”
Zane huffs to himself with an annoyed expression despite how he tries to hide it. “For good reason, apparently.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
Something in me wants to smile, but I just manage to hold back. “He used to listen more. He still does, but he pretends he doesn’t care first.”
That earns a few quiet laughs from the others and some agreeing nods.
“I believe that,” Dominic says with a long-suffering sigh as he leans back. “I’ve tried to have many heart-to-hearts with the grump, but he always shuts me down.”
Zane shakes his head. “Alright, that’s enough. Fun’s over.”
“No, no,” Isaac interjects, still grinning. “This is great, keep going.”
“I’m not your entertainment.”
“You absolutely are.”
I huff a quiet breath and shake my head. Something about the way they immediately latch onto it and how they don’t hesitate to poke at him is strange, but in a good way.
They don’t hold back, even with someone like him. Even while trying to deflect, he doesn’t shut them down completely or remind them where they stand. He just takes it and pushes back as if he belongs here. Like this is where he’s supposed to be.
The realization settles in slowly…this isn’t just something he built like Delmont. It’s a community he’s a part of, and not built on fear or a hierarchy. This is real, and they’re letting me sit here.
They’re asking me questions and including me even after everything. Despite knowing exactly who I am, what I’ve done, and what I represent. By all means, they don’t have to, and maybe they shouldn’t, but they are anyway.
Looking down at my hands, my fingers curl slightly as something uncomfortable moves through me. Regret sours on my tongue as I try to come to terms with everything I’ve seen and all the ways they’re actively ruining every preconceived notion I’ve ever had.
I remember how I used to look at them—all of them. I viewed them as something less, like they were obstacles and problems that needed to be dealt with. I used to see them as enemies of my family because that’s what I was taught, and for a while, what I believed.
Sitting here, listening to them argue over nothing and laugh like it doesn’t cost them anything, allows me to see the pieces I’ve been missing.
How narrow that perspective was, how controlled and shaped by someone else’s version of the truth. Between my father, Hayes, and the rest of the pack, I never had the chance to form those opinions of my own, and if given the chance, I never would’ve tried to.
I swallow quietly.
For as much as I was following orders, I had a hand in it too. I contributed to the tension and the damage caused, and now I’m sitting here, benefiting from the very people I helped my family fight against.
It doesn’t sit right with me, and I can’t ignore it anymore.
Something in the air pulls my attention up again, and my eyes lock with Zane’s.
He’s still watching me, likely longer than he should, but there’s nothing subtle about it. Rather than playing it off as something casual, he’s focused and not glancing away, as if he’s tracking every reaction, every movement, every thought that crosses my face.
It should be unsettling, and while it kind of is, it isn’t in the way I expect. It doesn’t feel wrong like it would if he were anyone else.
My chest tightens slightly, and annoyance rises in me first.
Zane doesn’t know how to not be intense about something, and he keeps acting like I’m something he has to keep an eye on, just in case I disappear again the second he looks away.
But underneath exists something new and warmer. It has the capacity to be far more dangerous than I want to contend with, but I don’t know if I’ll have a say in the matter.
Adjusting slightly in my seat, I break eye contact and avoid examining any of it too closely. Not here, and not now.
Even so, the thought lingers and overstays its welcome, leaving me with thoughts I can’t turn away from.
What if this is real? Not just the bond or the situation we’ve found ourselves in, but this moment. The way they are with each other and how he fits here, far more naturally than he ever did in Wraith Peak.
There could be more of this, and more than what I’ve known my whole life. There could be so much more to experience that I was never exposed to, and something about that is both daunting and exhilarating.
My gaze drifts back to the fire and to the people around it, and for the first time, the notion doesn’t feel impossible. It’s distant and uncertain, but not completely out of reach.
I don’t know what that might look like for me, or what it would take to get there.
I don’t even know if I’m allowed to want it, but the idea is there now, and it doesn’t fade.
Not even when I remind myself of everything waiting for me back in Wraith Peak, or when I tell myself this isn’t where I belong.
The fire crackles, sending sparks into the night while the others continue to poke and tease. All the while, I sit there, caught somewhere between what I’ve always known and what I’m only just starting to see.