Chapter 29 - Zane
The aftermath lingers longer than the fight.
After delegating tasks to have the clearing handled and a proper perimeter check performed, there’s a weight to it all that doesn’t lift easily. The rogues are done, that much is clear, but the ripple effect of what they were doing is going to take time to sort through.
Back in town now, I exhale slowly and drag a hand through my hair as the others regroup.
Zeke is already coordinating with a few of the wolves while the guys move in, looking more relieved now that the immediate threat is gone.
Rhea’s off to the side now, sitting on the steps of one of the houses and looking steadier than before, but still on edge. Hunter stands near her, watchful in an unthreatening way as he asks her a few more questions, likely just to keep her relaxed.
“How’s she holding up?” I ask, nodding in their direction as Caleb, Luke, and Dominic approach.
Caleb glances over briefly. “As well as can be expected. Hunter agreed to keep an eye on her until we know more and figure out the next steps.”
I nod once, knowing he’d be more suited for the task than Dominic. “That works.”
Luke turns to me fully as something lighter slips into his expression.
“Well,” he says, clapping a hand against my shoulder. “I didn’t think this was how you’d end up finding your mate, but…congrats.”
I huff a quiet breath. “It’s not exactly how I pictured it either, but here we are.”
Despite showing his more serious side often, Caleb’s lips pull. “Complicated always has a way of finding you.”
“Shut up,” I shoot back automatically, but there’s no heat behind it.
“It’s true.” He grins wider, then his expression becomes a bit more serious as he murmurs, “We were hard on her, and on you.”
Luke nods next to him. “As much as we’ve been trying to trust magic users, we only saw her as Dawson’s daughter. We could’ve been more open.”
My jaw tightens slightly. “I know.”
Caleb exhales. “We were wrong about Naia. She held her ground out there against Hayes, and the rogues…and she meant what she said about not wanting to cause issues. That isn’t nothing.”
“I know why you were hesitant to believe her, and I would be too,” I tell them, glancing briefly in her direction where she stands with Sera.
The sight surprises me, and even if they both look tense, it looks like a conversation that needs to happen.
A flicker of pride settles in my chest at the thought of her making amends.
“Still, we should’ve trusted you more. It’s not like you’ve steered us wrong before,” Caleb adds, conceding to the fact.
Even while I knew I’d find a way to handle it, their doubts before had piled on top of the pressure I was already feeling, but now, it fades, leaving me with more room to breathe.
Dominic gives me a hopeful grin. “Water under the bridge?”
I glance between them, able to see the honesty there, along with the lack of tension, as it should be.
“Water under the bridge,” I agree with a single nod, then Dominic’s hand claps against my shoulder next.
“That’s the way. See, isn’t this cozy now?”
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes at him, I scoff, but my subtle smile betrays me. “Obviously, you’re not tired enough from earlier. I have a few houses you could work on.”
“Now that sounds like the opposite of what I want to do,” Dominic returns, unsurprisingly. Then he hums. “Say, is Eve still around?”
Luke’s expression drops at that, giving him a flat look. “Don’t even think about it.”
“What? I just want to check in with her,” he says, laying the innocence on way too thick.
“You want to pester her. Leave my sister alone.”
Dominic chuckles and puts placating hands up, but looks unrepentant. “No promises.”
The conversation shifts after that, back into logistics and what this means for all the packs on the Willow island, and eventually, my attention drifts.
I can feel the bond humming steadily now without any walls or real distance between us. Instead, it’s full of warmth and reassurance, feeling more like a fresh start for both of us.
When I glance up, I catch her as she walks away from Sera and Fern, already looking in my direction.
Breaking off from the guys with a quick word, I approach her, catching the more relaxed way she holds herself now. She still seems a bit uncertain, but nothing like she had been before.
Before I can fully cut the space between us, I tilt my head slightly and gesture toward the edge of the clearing.
“Come with me.”
She studies me for a second, looking more curious now, then follows.
We step away from the others and move deeper into the trees, where the noise fades and the tension of everything else seems irrelevant.
For a quiet moment, we just stand there facing each other, all the while the connection steadies itself, allowing us to feel it.
Studying her, I catch the subtle exhaustion in her eyes despite how she doesn’t complain about it even once.
“What changed back there?” I ask, words gentle. “Ever since I saw you again, you were dead-set on going back to Wraith Peak. What changed your mind?”
A thoughtful gleam fills her eyes as she considers it; then Naia exhales slowly and briefly averts her gaze before it returns to me.
“It took me a while to see it,” she admits softly.
“To see what?”
“How deep it went…the way I was raised,” she continues, still holding a touch of guilt and regret in her. “It wasn’t just loyalty. It was conditioning, and I was too accepting of it. I was too willing to be whatever they needed me to be.”
My jaw clenches, since I know that feeling all too well. It’s something unspoken that happens behind the scenes in Wraith Peak without, and before you know it, you’re feeling pressured to fall in line and follow the others without question.
“I thought proving myself meant enduring it and fighting harder regardless of what it did to me,” Naia continues, taking a deep breath as resolve surrounds her now, making her look more open and less restrained by something she didn’t yet understand.
“But it didn’t. It just made it easier for them to use me. ”
I hold her gaze, heart softening while I digest her words and feel the honesty in them. “You never had the chance to see it sooner. It’s hard to recognize conditioning when you’re still in it.”
“I know,” she says gently with a conceding nod. “But you helped me see that my life could be different. That I’m more than what they think of me, and more than whatever fickle purpose Hayes had for me.”
“And now?” I ask as a new sort of pride washes over me.
Even back in Wraith Peak, I only ever wanted to help her, and to know I’ve had this much of an impact is surreal in a way.
Naia doesn’t hesitate. “I don’t want that life anymore, and I don’t want to be a weapon. I refuse to spend my life trying to earn something I didn’t need in the first place.”
With every word she speaks, I feel the knots in my stomach coming loose, and my shoulders relax while I look down at her. “And what do you want now?”
Her eyes soften while she looks up at me, as if not a day has gone by since our last time sitting together in the woods while she talked for hours on end, and I could hardly get a word in. That alone crumbles whatever remains of the walls I’ve had up for years.
“You,” she says, hitting me so hard with such simplicity. “And the pack. This life you’ve been working hard to build.”
The bond surges with comforting warmth as it pulls tight between us.
Without thinking, I step closer and reach for her hand. “Yeah?”
She nods once, and a small smile plays at her lips. “I mean it.”
I believe her, not only because of the bond or anything instinctual, but because I can see and feel it right in front of me. She’s not trying to get away from me or to fight for a fruitless cause. She’s being vulnerable and exceptionally clear about what she wants.
I pull her closer by the hand, watching as she gladly moves with it.
“Good,” I say quietly, using my opposite hand to gently brush her cheek. “I’m not running anymore.”
Her brows pinch together lightly in silent question, and I continue.
“I spent a long time walking away from things…From Wraith Peak and everything that tied me to it. I struggled for so long to find my place there, so I had to find it somewhere else. But you’re not something I can walk away from.
You’re not something I’ll leave behind when it gets complicated,” I tell her honestly, leaving myself open and raw emotionally. “You’re it for me, Naia.”
Her breath catches quietly, and I feel it through the bond. I feel that mutual affection between us, and it’s more grounding and satisfying than anything I’ve ever experienced before.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her as I lean in a bit closer, wanting to be as near as possible. “Not now, not ever. If you stay, then it will be us from now on.”
Naia’s pulse spikes from the proximity, and she makes no move to pull away. “I already said yes,” she reminds me with a subtle lift in her brow.
“Say it again for me.”
Without missing a beat, she rises to the challenge, lips parting while our breath mingles. “I choose you, and us.”
The bond snaps tighter now, like it’s locking into place in a deeper, more complete way.
Immediately, everything in me settles, and my inner wolf nearly preens beneath that notion.
My thumb skims gently along her cheekbone while I drink her in, savoring every second of this. “That’s all I need. And I choose you, too.”
Naia doesn’t pull away or hesitate.
When I close the distance between us, there’s no anger or resentment left to be found. Instead, it’s just us, the warm press of her lips on mine, and the certainty that neither of us is going anywhere.