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I opened my eyes, blinking up at him, processing the conviction he gave to those words.
“You do have a choice. You choose to keep fighting.” He squeezed my hand tight. “I was… I was in this bad situation for a bit—a few years ago. I know how easy it is to give up.”
He looked lost, a flash of panic in his eyes, and my pulse quickened.
Was he talking about…? “The… Lightning pack?” The words felt almost too dangerous on my tongue. But it wasn’t a violation of my commands.Hehad said it. I was following the conversation.
He glanced up at the leaves above, more tense than I’d ever seen.
“Yeh. I thought I was being courted as a permanent addition. Made me…” He shrugged, a slight wrinkle in his nose. “Stupid.”
I stared at him, knowing there was a frown on my face, but I waited, unsure if he was finished.
“There’s no guarantees in this industry, right? It was a once in a lifetime shot. And I needed it more than most people. But they knew that, too.”
“It was bad?” I asked quietly. “With them?”
He shook his head, then winced. “Yes. But like… not at the time—or I didn’tthinkit was. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.” He cleared his throat. “You don’t need me dumping on you, anyway—”
“I want to know you.”
It was a truth that was separate from Zeus, from my situation. He was my mate.
He took a breath, eyes darting around the sun kissed leaves above. “I’ve never talked about it. I know that’s stupid. Love put me in a bunch of therapy, and I just…” He rubbed his face. “I couldn’t.”
“You don’t have to tell me, if it’s not right.”
He nodded, still looking so lost in a way that broke my heart. “It was like… no matter how bad it got—it’s just pack life. If you’re struggling, it’s your fault, not theirs. If things get worse… if they’re moving too fast, it’s because you can’t keep up, not becausetheyare doing anything wrong. You’re gonna be pack, you can’t say no or you’re saying no to their way of life, and then the contract could vanish. So you just… survive, even when it’s worse and worse, and all the time you think you’re the crazy one.”
He’d stopped walking, and my grip on his hand was like a vice. There was a lump in my throat.
I knew nightmares could fester, locked away by silence, and this one… I could see it had been locked away for so long.
“And then you find out they never cared…” He looked sick. “H-how much damage they did, because you were never going to be in the bond. And it’s too late. You’re so…” He swallowed. “You’re so broken that no pack in their right mind would ever want you.”
“But this pack—”
He let out an anxious burst of laughter.“In their right mind.”
I couldn’t smile, though. “How did you end up with them—this pack, I mean?”
“Ebony. He…” Drake breathed another laugh. “He poached me.”
“Poached you?”
“Way I know it, he seduced Ronan Kit and got him to spill about the Valley Boy’s cast. The Lightning pack had more name recognition and influence so they’d got in on it. Thing is, London Clearwater is known for his integrity. Won’t hire a pack for a movie unless he thinks they’re a good fit.”
“And… the Lightning pack were?”
“Only one thing tipped the scales.”
“What?”
“Well.” Drake snorted. “He liked me.”
“So Ebony poached you.”
Drake met my eyes at last, a little more confidence in them. “He did more than poach me.”
