She had never felt so torn between two worlds.
The wind whipped against Sierra’s face as she stood at the edge of the cliff, her gaze sweeping over the vast expanse below.
The Bloodveil lands stretched out beneath her, their familiar boundaries giving way to the endless wild. But tonight, the landscape felt different. The sky above, dark and bruised with the weight of an impending storm, matched the turmoil inside her. She couldn’t escape the feeling that everything she had known, everything she had tried to hold onto, was slipping away. And she didn’t know what to do about it.
She had spent the day wandering the woods, trying to outrun her thoughts. The betrayal, the hurt, the way Rowan had ignored her just days before—it had all piled up on top of her until she felt like she was suffocating. The pack, her parents, the life she had built—it all seemed like it was slipping through her fingers.
And then, there he was.
She hadn’t expected him. She hadn’t wanted to see him, not after everything. But when she turned, there he was, stepping out of the shadows, the moonlight catching his face. He looked the same as always—confident, intense, but there was something different in his eyes. Something that pulled at her, even though she didn’t want it to.
Rowan stopped just behind her, standing at a distance that was close enough to be felt but far enough to keep his distance. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound between them was the wind, the rush of it as it whipped through the trees and against the jagged cliffs. Sierra couldn’t look at him. Not yet. Not when the storm inside her was still too loud, still too overwhelming.
“I never chose her,” Rowan said, his voice cutting through the silence, low and filled with an edge that made Sierra’s stomach tighten. “They did.”
Sierra’s heart skipped a beat, but she didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. Her breath came in shallow bursts, the tension in the air too thick for her to breathe properly. She had known. She had known deep down that it wasn’t entirely Rowan’s fault, that the pressure of the pack and the expectations of his family had shaped the decisions he made. But hearing him say it out loud, hearing the admission in his voice, made her heart ache in a way she couldn’t explain.
“I never wanted this,” Rowan continued, his voice quieter now, almost regretful. “You think I wanted to be forced into the bond with her? You think I wanted to be tied to someone I don’t even care about?”
Sierra closed her eyes, her fingers curling into fists at her sides as she tried to steady herself. The words stung, but they also made sense. She had seen it—seen the way Rowan’s eyes had shifted when Isolde was near, seen the way he had looked at her like she was a stranger. She knew that he hadn’t asked for this, that this was a life he hadn’t chosen. But still, it didn’t make the pain any easier to bear.
She opened her eyes slowly, her gaze falling to the distant horizon. “Then why?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Why did you keep going? Why did you… let it happen?”
Rowan took a step forward, the shift in his movement subtle but powerful. He wasn’t in a rush, wasn’t trying to close the gap between them. He was just there, existing in the same space, his presence heavy, pressing down on her.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he said, his voice breaking for the first time. The rawness in it made Sierra’s heart ache.
“I was forced into this bond, into this life, because that’s what Shadowfen expected of me. That’s what they wanted. And I… I didn’t know how to fight it. But it doesn’t mean I wanted it. It doesn’t mean I wanted her.”
Sierra’s breath caught in her throat. The weight of his words settled over her, and for the first time, she felt the truth of them. Rowan wasn’t the one who had chosen this. He hadn’t made the decision to betray her, to let Isolde slip through his fingers. He had been trapped, just like she was. And yet, even with that understanding, the ache inside her didn’t go away.
“Then why didn’t you choose me?” she asked, the question slipping from her lips before she could stop it.
It was too raw, too vulnerable, but she needed to know. She needed to hear the truth, even if it hurt. Even if it tore her apart.
Rowan’s eyes softened, and for a brief moment, he looked as if the world had crumbled around him too.
“Because I didn’t think you’d choose me,” he said, his voice low, almost broken. “I didn’t think you’d ever want someone like me.”