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I scoffed. “I think you are very much mistaken.”
His lips curled up at one corner, though he just looked at me without saying anything.
“What?” I demanded.
“I kind of like that you’re mouthy with me.” He moved his hand toward my neck slowly, and I could tell he was moving carefully so he wouldn’t scare me. He gently brushed a stray curl back off my shoulder, exposing the mark on my skin. “It means you’re getting your power back.”
I raised my chin, not sure what to say. Was that true? After five years of hiding myself until even I couldn’t find the real me under all the layers of manipulative sweetness and softness? Was the real Amelia slowly emerging?
“I thought you didn’t want me to backtalk you in front of the pack.”
“Right now, it’s just the two of us.” Then he smiled faintly. “Well, almost. Cole.”
Cole stepped out of the shadows.
“I’m glad when you can’t stand me, Cole is there to watch over you.” Stone’s fingers lifted from my neck. The cool air brushing over my skin where his hand had lingered felt too cold. “Don’t hide your mark.”
“It’s my mark.” My fingers rose to it. “My skin. I’ll do what I want with it.”
“You should be proud you’re bound to Brennan.”
That name dropped between us like a stone.
“I am,” I said hotly. “ButIpaid for this mark, and I’ll do what I want.”
Stone gave me a long look, then turned and moved away into the woods.
Somehow getting the last word with Stone didn’t feel any better. The accusation I was hiding my connection with Brennan prickled on my skin, even though Ihadhidden it for years. Hiding it was still habit. It was one more instinct to survive that I had needed, and that now felt like a trap.
“Dickhead,” I muttered as Stone disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
Cole was watching me carefully. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” I said lightly. “I don’t care what Stone thinks.”
Cole looked at me as if he saw right through me.
I still felt flushed with desire, but Stone had ruined it. Those words hurt more than I’d expected. It was bad enough when Stone thought I’d helped murder Brennan. Somehow it was just as terrible when he thought I’d forgotten him.
“I don’t forget Brennan,” I said fiercely. “I won’t… not even…”
I trailed off, because I wanted these men. I wanted Stone and Cole and Shaw and Liam.
Could I have the future if I clung to the past?
The past was marked in my skin, but even if I hadn’t carried Brennan’s mark, his love—and loss—went deeper than skin. It was fused into my bones. My past with Brennan had melted my future and reforged it into something new.
“I know.” Cole rested his hands lightly on my shoulders. “Let’s go back to the house. Liam doesn’t want company right now or we would be able to find him.”
“That means he definitely doesn’t want Stone.”
“That’s Stone’s problem.” Cole shrugged.
Cole was always so loyal. This slightest bit of rebellion made me laugh in surprise.
He smiled slowly, his lips barely twitching upward. “Are we training tomorrow morning?”
“As long as I can spy on my little sister while we do.” The cubs usually practiced in the field by the school, though we’d caught glimpses of them running by on the trails.
