“If you want to see your brother again,” Daniel said quietly, “you’ll do this for us.”
Anger burned through me. All Daniel had to do was bring up Kai, and I danced to his tune like a puppet. My chest tightened until it hurt.
“I’ll contact you again,” Daniel added.
The line went dead and silence rushed in, loud and deafening. I stared at my phone.
The screen had already gone dark. It was as if nothing had happened, like my entire world hadn’t just shifted under my feet.
My hand started to shake. I lowered the phone slowly. Then I sank onto the edge of the bed like my legs had given out.
“Shit,” I whispered. The word barely made it out.
My chest felt so tight, it was as if I couldn’t get enough air.
Daniel’s instructions were simple. Open the gate. Let them in. Into the pack, into Levi’s home. Into the place that had welcomed me with one arms.
My stomach twisted violently. I pressed a hand against it, swallowing hard.
I once again thought of waking up in Levi’s bedroom, his sheets around my body. Warm sunlight through the window.
For a second I hadn’t known where I was, until I turned my head. Levi was tucked next to me in bed, still sleeping.
Next, I saw him standing in the kitchen, smiling as he made me breakfast, like it was the most normal thing to do.
For those precious moments, it didn’t feel like I was living on borrowed time. Heck, I even let myself imagine just for a second what it would be like if that was real.
If I stayed and didn’t have to leave. I even pictured Kai there too, safe and teasing me about something stupid while Levi pretended not to be amused.
The image had been so clear and vivid. For a few moments, it even felt possible.
My throat tightened painfully. I opened my eyes. The room came back into focus, small and temporary. Not mine. Nothing about this was mine.
I stared at the green shirt was still in my hand. At the way the fabric bunched slightly between my fingers. A shirt for a date. A normal, stupid, hopeful thing.
My grip tightened, then loosened. I let the shirt fall onto the bed.
The future I’d let myself picture, it wasn’t just fragile and uncertain, it was impossible. Daniel would never let me walk away, not while he had Kai, and not while I was still useful to him.
Levi’s face flickered through my mind again. The way he looked at me, open and certain. It was as if he already decided I was worth trusting.
That I was special and was exclusively and irrevocably his. A sharp, bitter laugh scraped its way out of my throat.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “That’s going to go well.”
Because what happened when he found out? When he realized the truth? That I wasn’t just some drifter who stumbled into their lives. That I’d brought danger with me.
No. I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t think about that, couldn’t let my mind go there. I needed to think, find a way to stall Daniel.
My thoughts tangled and frayed. Nothing made sense. All I could see was Levi curled next to me in bed, possessive arm around my body. I let out a shaky breath.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
The words felt useless and small. I could still fix this, maybe. If I was careful and played it right. A hollow feeling opened up in my chest. Because deep down, I already knew.
Whatever I did next, someone was going to get hurt, and I wasn’t sure I could live with that.
* * *
