Chapter 386

Lina found out about the meeting from Leo, of all people, which somehow made her angrier than if Kai had told her himself.

"You knew?" She stormed into Kai's room without knocking, finding him hunched over his notebook at the desk. "Leo just told me everything. You went alone to meet a complete stranger in the middle of the night?"

Kai flinched slightly but did not look up from his papers. "I already told you I was considering it."

"Considering it and actually doing it are two very different things, Kai! You could have been killed!"

"But I was not."

"That is not the point!" Her voice rose, frustration bleeding through every word. "The point is you walked into unknown danger completely alone, without backup, without telling anyone exactly where you were going, and you did not think that was worth mentioning to me until Leo forced the information out of you?"

"I told you I was going to handle it my own way."

"Handling it does not mean risking your life without proper precautions!" She grabbed the edge of his desk, forcing him to finally meet her eyes. "Do you understand what could have happened? What if that informant had been lying? What if it had been another trap like everything else that has happened to this family?"

"I left clues, Lina. If something went wrong, you knew where to find me."

"That is not the same as being safe!" Tears of frustration pricked at her eyes despite her best efforts to remain composed. "I already lost two days not knowing where I was during the kidnapping. Do you have any idea how terrifying it would be to lose you the same way?"

Kai's expression softened slightly, guilt flickering behind his eyes. "I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you."

"Well you did." She wiped angrily at her eyes, hating how vulnerable this entire conversation made her feel. "Nobody in this family investigating dangerous people can ever be completely safe, Kai. Not you, not me, not anyone. Stop pretending like you have everything under control when clearly none of us do."

The argument continued for several more minutes before finally settling into exhausted silence, both siblings drained from the emotional exchange. Lina left his room eventually, closing the door quietly behind her, still shaking slightly from residual anger and fear.

She wandered through the hallways aimlessly, thoughts spiraling as she processed everything happening around her lately. Kai kept secrets about his investigation. Theo hid injuries from his encounter in the woods until Leo forced information out of him. Leo apparently now worked alongside Cole without properly explaining that decision to anyone else in the family. Even their parents seemed to be having private conversations that abruptly stopped whenever she entered rooms.

Everyone was protecting someone from something, carrying burdens silently rather than sharing openly. The realization left her feeling strangely isolated despite constantly being surrounded by people who supposedly loved her.

She was tired of feeling like the last person included in her own family's crisis.

That evening, restless and emotionally exhausted, she found herself walking toward the river again, needing space to breathe and think clearly away from the chaos consuming her home. Cole was already there, as he often seemed to be lately, sitting near the water's edge with his usual quiet intensity.

"You look upset," he observed as she approached, immediately noticing her tense posture.

"Kai went to that meeting alone. Leo just told me because apparently everyone else in my family knew before I did." She sat down heavily beside him, frustration still simmering beneath the surface. "He could have died and nobody thought to properly warn me."

"He is safe now though."

"That does not make it okay." She pulled her knees up to her chest, staring at the dark water. "Everyone keeps secrets in my family lately. Kai hides his investigation details. Theo hid his injuries. Leo apparently works with you now without telling me directly."

"He mentioned that this morning."

"Of course he did." She sighed heavily. "It just feels like everyone is protecting each other from something, and I am always the last one told anything important."

Cole remained quiet, letting her continue without interrupting, something she was gradually learning to appreciate about him. He rarely rushed to fill silence with unnecessary words, allowing space for her thoughts to fully form before responding.

"I hate feeling weak," she admitted quietly, the words slipping out before she fully decided to share them. "Ever since I lost my wolf, everyone treats me differently. Like I need constant protection, like I cannot handle difficult information or dangerous situations."

"You handled the compound rescue better than most trained warriors would have."

"But that is not how everyone sees me. My family still treats me like glass despite everything I have proven I can do." Her voice cracked slightly. "I am tired of being defined by what I cannot do instead of everything I actually can."

"You are not weak, Lina." His voice was quiet but firm. "You survived a kidnapping and gathered crucial evidence while escaping. You uncovered connections that experienced investigators missed. You train harder than most warriors twice your size, despite lacking abilities they take for granted."

"But I still cannot shift. I still cannot protect myself the way an omega should be able to."

"Strength is not solely measured by whether you can shift or not."

She looked at him, surprised by the conviction in his voice. "You really believe that?"

"I have watched countless warriors who could shift perfectly fine crumble under pressure that you have handled repeatedly without breaking." He met her gaze steadily. "Your strength comes from somewhere your wolf never provided. Determination. Intelligence. The refusal to give up despite everyone constantly underestimating you."

Something inside her chest loosened slightly at his words, emotion building unexpectedly behind her eyes. Nobody had ever articulated her worth quite like that before, always focusing instead on what she lacked rather than what she genuinely possessed.

"Thank you," she said softly, meaning it more deeply than the simple words conveyed.

They sat together in comfortable silence after that, the earlier tension gradually dissolving into something quieter, more peaceful. Cole did not offer additional advice or attempt to solve her problems with practical suggestions. He simply remained present, listening without judgment, providing space for her to process everything weighing on her mind.

By the time she finally stood to head home, exhaustion had replaced most of her earlier frustration, replaced by something lighter, more settled than she had felt in weeks.

"Feeling better?" Cole asked as she prepared to leave.

"Actually, yes." She smiled slightly, surprised by how genuine the feeling was. "Thank you for listening."

"Anytime."

Walking back toward her estate, Lina found herself reflecting on the conversation, on how naturally she had opened up to him about fears she rarely shared with anyone else, not even her own family. Something about Cole's presence made vulnerability feel safer than it usually did, made her willing to expose parts of herself she typically kept carefully guarded.

The realization unsettled her slightly. When had he become the person she instinctively wanted to talk to whenever something important happened? When had his opinion started mattering more than almost anyone else's in her life?

She was not entirely sure when that shift occurred, but walking home through the quiet darkness, she could not deny it had happened regardless of when exactly it began.