Ellie POV


    The news should not have surprised me. My trust had been tested and taken advantage of so many times at this point. I should have expected that someone as stubborn and determined as Kieran would y dirty.


    I shouldn''t have been surprised.


    And yet, I was.


    ire had seemed like such an honest person. I''d trusted her deeply. Learning that she was reporting back to Kieran from the start was disappointing.


    I stood at the window of the sitting room with my arms folded tight across my chest, staring out over Silver Fang''s inner courtyard while Nn spoke quietly behind me. The guards below moved in their usual patterns, steady and alert, nothing outwardly changed. Life continuing as if nothing had shifted.


    But something had.


    "Kieran had eyes on you in Moonstone," Nn said again, his voice carefully controlled. “Through ire. I can''t believe no one noticed before..."


    I closed my eyes.


    "I know," I said softly. "Cassian told me the details. I wish knew how he''d gotten to her. Cassian trusted her. They were friends. He must be devastated.”


    “Cassian had dealt with it. She shouldn''t be an issue in the future," he exined, voice a bit softer.


    I nodded slowly. I was curious about what Cassian had done, but not enough to ask. That was a wound I didn''t need to pick at.


    "Are you alright, Ellie?" Nn asked gently.


    I nodded once. "I will be. Eventually."


    He didn''t press. Nn had learned-slowly, painfully-when to let silence do its work.


    I exhaled and turned back toward him. He was standing near the hearth, arms


    crossed, expression taut with restrained anger. Not the explosive kind people liked


    to imagine when they spoke about him. This was colder. Sharper.


    More dangerous.


    "I keep thinking about what she said," I admitted. "Not the spying. Not the betrayal. But the way she talked about you."


    Nn''s jaw tightened.


    "She saw what the world saw," I continued. "What I told her. A version of you that existed once and never really left public memory."


    "That version earned its reputation," he said tly. Not defending himself, not making


    excuses.


    “Yes,” I agreed. “But it wasn''t the whole truth. And I didn'' give her the rest of it."


    I walked toward him slowly, grounding myself in the familiar pull that guided me closer. It still startled me sometimes, how different the bond felt now. No longer sharp. No longer overwhelming.


    Steady.


    +25 Bonus


    "She thought she was saving me,” I said with a sigh. "From you. From the life I ran from. From everything I said that I never wanted to go back to."


    Nn studied my face. "And do you think she was right? Do you need to be saved from me?"


    The answer came easily.


    "No."


    Not just because of the boys. Not just because of the safety Silver Fang offered.


    But because of the man standing in front of me.


    "The version of you she believed in doesn''t exist anymore, I said quietly. "And even


    if it did... it doesn''t get to define you forever."


    His gaze softened, something unguarded flickering there.


    "Last night," I added, my voice lowering without my permission, "was different."


    He inhaled slowly.


    I felt it too-the shift, the awareness between us that hadn''t faded with the dawn. The intimacy we''d shared hadn''t been frantic or desperate or driven by guilt or fear.


    It had been deliberate.


    Careful.


    Kind.


    “I wasn''t afraid,” I said. “Not of you. Not of us. For the first time, I didn''t feel like I was bracing for something to break."


    Nn stepped closer, lifting a hand but stopping just short of touching me, as if still asking permission.


    "I don''t want to be the man the world fears,” he said quietly. "I don''t want to be the man who hurt you."


    "You aren''t," I replied. "Not anymore."


    I closed the remaining distance and rested my forehead against his chest, feeling the steady strength there. His arms came around me without hesitation this time, firm and protective without being possessive.


    “I know Kieran is still watching,” I murmured. “I know he isn''t done.”


    Nn''s hold tightened fractionally. "I won''t let him near you again.”


    “I know,” I said. “But I need you to understand something.


    He waited.


    "He didn''t convince ire because he''s clever," I said. "He convinced her because people want to believe the worst about you. And because I once did too."


    Nn didn''t look away.


    "I don''t anymore,” I said. "Whateveres next... I''m choosing this. I''m choosing you. This isn''t about the pull or about feeling obligated. I''m not desperate for belonging anymore."