For a few seconds after Rowan spoke, I didn’t move.
It wasn’t because I didn’t understand what he had said. It was because I understood it too well.
"You’re leaving with ."
Not a request. Not even a suggestion. It was the kind of statent that didn’t leave space for negotiation, and under different circumstances, I might have reacted imdiately, might have pushed back without thinking, simply because I refused to be told what to do.
But this wasn’t just about control.
It was about everything he hadn’t said.
"I don’t think you get to decide that," I replied, keeping my voice steady, even though sothing in my chest had already started to tighten in a way I didn’t like.
Rowan didn’t step closer, but his presence still felt like it had.
"I’m not deciding it for you," he said. "I’m telling you what happens if you stay."
"That sounds exactly like deciding."
"It’s a consequence."
The distinction irritated more than it should have, because it carried just enough truth to make it difficult to dismiss.
Behind us, Lucien let out a quiet breath that almost resembled amusent, though there was nothing light about it.
"You always did have a talent for phrasing things as if they were inevitable," he said.
Rowan didn’t even look at him.
"This doesn’t concern you."
"It concerns the mont she stepped into my city," Lucien replied calmly.
"That’s not your territory to claim."
Lucien tilted his head slightly.
"Everything here is."
The certainty in his voice didn’t feel exaggerated. It felt factual.
And that— Was a problem.
I looked between them again, and for the first ti since Rowan had arrived, the situation stopped feeling like sothing external that I had been pulled into and started feeling like sothing I needed to actively control before it spiraled further.
"Stop," I said.
Not loudly.
But firmly enough that both of them paused.
"I’m not an object you can argue over," I continued, my gaze moving from one to the other. "And I’m definitely not a territory."
Lucien’s expression shifted, just slightly, as if he approved of that.
Rowan, on the other hand, didn’t react at all.
Which sohow felt worse.
"I didn’t co here to be protected," I said, turning fully toward Rowan now. "And I didn’t co here to be managed."
"You ca here to run," he replied.
The words were simple.
But they hit.
Because they were close enough to the truth that denying them outright felt dishonest, even to myself.
"I ca here to think," I corrected.
"You’re not thinking," Rowan said quietly. "You’re avoiding."
That landed harder. Not because he raised his voice, but because he didn’t.
I crossed my arms slightly, grounding myself before responding.
"And what exactly am I avoiding?" I asked.
Rowan held my gaze.
"Everything that changed the mont you touched ."
The world didn’t stop. But it felt like it did. My breath caught slightly before I could control it. The mory ca back instantly. His hand around my wrist. The sudden shift in reality. The vision that had felt too real to ignore. And the way sothing inside had responded to him in a way that didn’t match anything I had ever experienced before.
"That wasn’t just ," I said quietly.
"I know."
"You didn’t tell what it was."
Rowan didn’t answer imdiately. And in that pause— Sothing cracked.
I took a step closer.
"You knew sothing," I continued, my voice steadier now, sharper. "Back in the forest, when it happened. You weren’t surprised. You weren’t confused. You just... accepted it."
"That’s not true."
"Then what is?" I pressed.
Rowan exhaled slowly, and for the first ti since I had t him, there was a visible hesitation in the way he chose his next words.
"I didn’t have enough information to explain it," he said.
"That’s not the sa as not knowing."
"No," he admitted. "It’s not."
Lucien watched the exchange without interrupting, but I could feel his attention shift, more focused now, as if this part interested him more than anything that had co before.
That didn’t help.
"So you did know sothing," I said.
"I suspected," Rowan corrected.
"And you decided not to tell ."
"I decided not to tell you sothing I couldn’t confirm."
"That’s not your decision to make."
"It is when it puts you at risk."
The answer ca faster this ti. Sharper. More honest. I shook my head slightly.
"You don’t get to protect by keeping in the dark."
"And you don’t get to walk into sothing you don’t understand and pretend it won’t matter."
The words collided between us, neither of us backing down, neither of us softening the edges.
And suddenly— This wasn’t just about the city.
Or Lucien.
Or even Kael.
It was about trust. And the fact that we didn’t have it.
"You followed here," I said, my voice lower now, more controlled. "Not because you had to. Because you chose to."
"Yes."
"And you still won’t tell everything."
Rowan held my gaze.
"No."
The honesty of it hit harder than any denial would have. For a second, I didn’t know whether I was more angry or more unsettled. Because part of understood why he would hold sothing back. But another part— Didn’t accept it.
"Then maybe I shouldn’t go anywhere with you," I said.
The words ca out steadier than I expected. More final.
Lucien shifted slightly, just enough to signal interest.
Rowan didn’t move at all. But sothing in his expression changed. Not visibly but undeniably.
"You can stay here," he said after a mont. "You can stay in a city that isn’t built for wolves, surrounded by people who won’t see the danger until it’s too late."
His voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to.
"Or you can co with and deal with sothing you don’t fully understand—"
His gaze sharpened slightly. "—with soone who is at least being honest about that."
That stopped . Because he was right. In a way I didn’t want him to be. Behind him, Lucien let out a quiet breath.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Neither of us acknowledged it. I looked at Rowan for a long mont. Really looked this ti. At the control he maintained even now. At the things he said. And the things he didn’t.
And sowhere in all of that— I realized sothing I hadn’t allowed myself to consider before. He wasn’t hiding things because he didn’t trust . He was hiding them because he didn’t trust the situation. That didn’t fix it but it changed it.
"What happens if I don’t go with you?" I asked finally.
Rowan didn’t hesitate.
"Then you beco part of sothing Lucien is already watching."
Lucien smiled faintly.
"That’s one way to phrase it."
Rowan ignored him.
"And the next ti Kael moves, you won’t be in a position to choose anything."
The weight of that settled into slowly. Carefully. Because this ti— It didn’t feel like pressure. It felt like reality. I exhaled. Long. Slow.
Then t his gaze again.
"I’m not following you," I said.
A pause. Then—
"But I’m not staying here either."
Rowan’s expression didn’t change. But sothing in his posture did.
"I’ll co with you," I continued, my voice steady now, grounded in sothing that finally felt like my own decision, "on one condition."
He waited.
"You stop deciding what I can handle."
A brief silence followed. Then Rowan nodded once.
"Fair."
Lucien watched the exchange with quiet interest, his gaze moving between us as if committing the mont to mory.
"Well," he said softly, "this just beca more complicated than I expected."
I didn’t respond. Because for the first ti since I had entered the city— I wasn’t reacting anymore.
I was choosing.
And sohow, I knew— This was only the beginning.
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