Chapter 41 41

Chapter 41 41
Chapter 41

Thalia's POV

The next two weeks were tense.

I kept waiting for Cyrus to show up again, but he didn't. No visits. No more gifts. Nothing.

Somehow, that was worse than if he'd kept coming around.

The waiting made everything feel unstable. Like I was walking on ice that could crack at any moment.

Work continued as normal. Miller never mentioned Cyrus again, but I caught him watching me sometimes with a worried expression. Margaret stopped by the store more often than she needed to, usually with some excuse about checking inventory or bringing lunch.

I appreciated it, even if I didn't say so out loud.

Ruth was more direct.

"Any more trouble?" she'd ask every morning at breakfast.

"No," I'd answer.

"Good," she'd say, but she didn't look relieved.

The town itself seemed unchanged. People went about their business. The weather got colder. The leaves turned orange and red before falling. Life moved forward.

But I felt separate from it somehow. Like I was watching everything through glass.

On the fifteenth day after Cyrus's visit, something finally happened.

I was walking home from work just after sunset. The streets were mostly empty—people tended to stay inside once it got dark. The temperature had dropped significantly in the past week, and my breath made small clouds in the air.

I was about halfway to the cottage when I heard footsteps behind me.

I didn't turn around. I kept walking at the same pace, listening.

The footsteps matched my rhythm. Not gaining, but not falling back either.

My heart rate picked up.

I took the next left turn, heading down a side street. The footsteps followed.

Not good.

I sped up slightly. So did the footsteps.

I was still three blocks from the cottage. Too far to run safely, especially if whoever was following me was faster.

I turned another corner and pressed myself against the wall of a building, waiting.

The footsteps got closer. Then a figure appeared.

It was one of Cyrus's guards. The younger one who'd flanked him in the store. He stopped when he saw me waiting.

"Thalia," he said. He didn't sound surprised that I'd noticed him.

"Why are you following me?" I asked.

"Alpha Cyrus wants to speak with you."

"He knows where I work," I said. "He could have come to the store."

"He's asking you to come to him," the guard said.

"And if I refuse?"

The guard's expression didn't change. "He's asking. Not demanding. But he wanted me to tell you it's important."

"Everything's important to Alphas," I said.

A small smile crossed the guard's face, gone almost immediately. "Fair point. But he said to tell you it's about your safety."

That made me pause. "What does that mean?"

"Come talk to him," the guard said. "He'll explain."

Every instinct told me this was a bad idea. That going anywhere with this guard was stepping into a trap I wouldn't see until it closed around me.

But he'd said safety. And Cyrus had been quiet for two weeks, which meant something had changed.

"Where?" I asked.

"The old church on the east edge of town," the guard said. "It's neutral ground. Public. He'll meet you there alone."

"When?"

"Now, if you're willing."

I considered my options. I could refuse, go home, and lock my door. But that wouldn't change whatever Cyrus wanted to tell me. And if it really was about my safety, I needed to know.

"Fine," I said. "But I walk there myself. You don't follow me."

The guard nodded. "He'll be waiting."

He turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows between buildings.

I stood there for a moment, trying to decide if I was being brave or stupid.

Probably stupid.

But I started walking toward the east side of town anyway.

The old church had been abandoned for years. The congregation had built a newer, larger building closer to the center of town, and this one had been left to slowly decay. The roof still held, but the windows were boarded up and the paint was peeling.

It sat on the very edge of Greystone, right where the town ended and the forest began.

Cyrus stood on the front steps. He was alone, just like the guard had promised. He wore a heavy coat against the cold, and his breath made clouds in the air as mine did.

"Thank you for coming," he said as I approached.

"Your guard said it was about my safety," I replied. "So talk."

Cyrus gestured toward the steps. "Would you like to sit?"

"I'd like you to say what you need to say."

He nodded, accepting that. "Very well. Varian knows you're here."

My blood ran cold. "How?"

"Does it matter?" Cyrus asked. "Word travels. Wolves talk. Someone from his pack passed through the area and heard about a lone female wolf living in Greystone. It didn't take much for him to put the pieces together."

"What does he want?" I asked, though I thought I knew.

"He's claimed you're still bound to his pack," Cyrus said. "That you left without proper release. That technically, you're still under his authority."

"That's not true," I said. "He exiled me. There were witnesses."

"Exile and release are different things," Cyrus said. "At least, that's the argument he's making. And some of the other packs in the region are listening."

I felt sick. "Why would they care?"

"Because it sets a precedent," Cyrus explained. "If wolves can just walk away from their packs without formal release, it undermines Alpha authority. Most of them would rather support Varian's claim than open that door."

"So what?" I asked. "He's going to come here and drag me back?"

"He's going to try," Cyrus said. "Maybe not personally. But he'll send wolves to retrieve you. And when they come, Greystone won't be able to stop them."

"Ruth said—"

"Ruth is a good woman who runs a fine establishment," Cyrus interrupted. "But she can't stand against a pack enforcement squad. Neither can Miller nor anyone else here. They're human. This is pack business now."

I wanted to argue. To tell him he was wrong. But I couldn't.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because I'm offering you protection," Cyrus said simply. "Join Clearwater Pack. Formally. With witnesses and a proper ceremony. Once you're claimed by my pack, Varian can't touch you without starting a war. And he won't start a war over one wolf."

"So I trade one Alpha's control for another's," I said bitterly.

"You trade vulnerability for safety," Cyrus corrected. "There's a difference."

"Is there?"

He stepped down from the church steps, moving closer. Not threatening, just closing the distance between us.

"I understand your hesitation," he said. "You left Varian's pack because you felt trapped. Powerless. I get that. But my pack is different."

"Everyone says their pack is different," I said.

"True," he acknowledged. "But in my pack, you'd have actual autonomy. A voice. Protection without submission. I don't rule through fear as Varian does."

"Just through manipulation?"

Cyrus smiled slightly. "I prefer to think of it as a strategy. But call it what you want—the offer stands. And it's the only thing standing between you and Varian's wolves."

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling the cold more acutely.

"How long do I have?" I asked.

"To decide?" Cyrus tilted his head, considering. "Varian's wolves could be here in a week. Maybe less. They'll come at night, probably. Take you quietly before anyone can interfere."

"You seem very well informed about his plans."

"I make it my business to be informed," Cyrus said. "Especially about things happening near my territory."

We stood in silence for a moment. The wind picked up, rustling the dead leaves around the church.

"I need time to think," I said finally.

"Of course," Cyrus said. "But Thalia—don't take too long. I can protect you, but only if you're under my pack's claim before Varian makes his move."

"And if I don't join you?"

His expression was sympathetic. Almost genuine. "Then you'll have to run again. Find somewhere even more remote. Hope Varian doesn't care enough to keep tracking you." He paused. "But we both know he will. You embarrassed him. Made him look weak in front of his pack. Men like Varian don't forget that."

He was right. I knew he was right.

That's what made this so hard.

"I'll think about it," I said.

"That's all I ask," Cyrus said. He reached into his coat and pulled out another card. "When you decide, send word. I'll make the arrangements."

I took the card without looking at it.

Cyrus nodded to me, then turned and walked toward the forest. Within moments, he'd disappeared into the darkness between the trees.

I stood there alone in front of the abandoned church, holding a card that represented a choice I didn't want to make.

Stay vulnerable and risk being dragged back to Varian's pack.

Or join Cyrus and trade one form of control for another.

The wind blew harder. I pulled my jacket tighter and started walking back toward the cottage.

I didn't know what I was going to do.

But I knew I was running out of time to decide.