Evaline:
My chest rose and fell rapidly as his words registered in my brain.
My heart raced as I tried to hold onto something... anything... that kept me from falling apart again.
"You are coming back with me." His gaze burned into mine as he finished, "And you are going to stay there... with me."
The finality in his tone made something twist painfully in my chest.
He leaned closer, his presence suffocating.
"You have changed," he admitted. "You have learned a few things, I can see that."
His eyes flicked briefly to the restraints as he added, "You have learned to fight." A faint smirk tugged at his lips. "But you are still the same at your core."
My jaw tightened.
"You don't have a wolf," he continued. "Which makes you weak."
Each word felt like a calculated strike.
"And against someone like me?" he added softly. "You are still nothing."
The words should have broken me. In the past, they always did. But now... they didn't.
