For a second, doubt crept in. Maybe I’d gotten ahead of myself, already believing something when nothing had been decided yet.
“What if he says no?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Levi turned his head fully toward me then.
His dark blond hair caught the early light, the strands a shade lighter at the ends, like he’d spent too much time outdoors.
Up close, his eyes were sharper than I remembered. Not just the deep mossy green, but the way they held steady on me. Like he was studying something he didn’t quite understand yet.
“He won’t,” Levi said.
“You don’t know that.”
His mouth curved slightly at one corner. “I’d bet on it.”
He said it so easily, like the outcome was already settled. I didn’t know whether to be reassured or irritated by it. Still, some of the tightness in my chest eased.
Across the clearing, Gino finally lowered his phone.
Gino’s mouth was a hard line. Whatever the person on the other end was saying, it didn’t look like a yes.
I gave Levi a weak smile. “Looks like you’re wrong. Guess I won’t be needing that bag after all, huh?”
Levi followed my gaze. His brow furrowed as he studied Gino for a second too long, then he stood up.
Panic shot through me. Without thinking, I grabbed him. “Hey—wait.”
The second my fingers closed around him, I froze.
I hadn’t meant to touch him. The muscle under my grip tightened instinctively, like his wolf reacted before he did. Levi went still and looked down at my hand on his wrist.
Heat rushed up my neck. I dropped his wrist immediately, like I’d burned myself. I rubbed my palm against my jeans.
“I—” I cleared my throat. “You don’t have to push it. I don’t want you guys getting into trouble because of me. I’ll just stay at the cabin. I’ll be fine.”
Levi was still staring at the spot where my hand had been.
For half a second, something flickered across his face. Then he blinked, like he’d snapped out of whatever thought had caught him, and looked at me.
The expression he gave me made my stomach flip.
“No,” he said. “It isn’t safe here.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he shook his head once, sharp and decisive. “And Gino knows it too.”
Before I could respond, he turned and strode toward Gino.
I pulled my duffel onto my lap and wrapped my arms around it, holding it tight against my chest. My pulse was hammering so loudly I was certain every wolf in the clearing could hear it.
Levi stopped in front of Gino and held out his hand.
Even from a distance, I could tell he wasn’t asking politely.
Gino stared at him for a long moment, jaw ticking. Then, with visible reluctance, he handed over the phone and crossed his arms over his chest.
Levi walked a little farther into the trees, turning his back to us as he lifted the phone to his ear.
I couldn’t hear what he was saying. But I could see it.
