Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Students hurried past us, most giving us a wide berth, though I could feel their stares and whispers. The hallway was clearing as people rushed to their classes, but I couldn't make myself move. My legs felt rooted to the spot, trapped in this confrontation I'd been avoiding for six years.

"That's not what I meant," Kyle said, his voice dropping lower. "I meant that I never thought you had a crush on Marcus. I was jealous of how much you missed your parents. How much you loved them. It was stupid and childish and cruel."

I laughed, a harsh sound that felt like it was being ripped from my throat. "You know what? I don't care anymore. Believe whatever you want. Tell yourself whatever story helps you sleep at night."

I turned to leave, but Kyle caught my wrist, his touch sending an electric current up my arm that made my wolf stir restlessly beneath my skin.

"Let go," I hissed, though part of me, the traitorous wolf part, wanted to lean into his touch.

"Not until you hear me out," he said, his amber eyes intense in the fluorescent hallway light. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. None of us does. But I need you to understand that what happened last night, the bond, it wasn't some cosmic joke or punishment. It was the universe finally getting something right."

The final bell rang, echoing through the now-empty hallway. We were both officially late for first period. Another mark against me in a day that was already shaping up to be one of the worst of my life.

"The universe is getting something right," I repeated flatly. "That's what you think this is? The universe rewarding you three for years of cruelty by tying you to the girl you tormented?"

Kyle's expression faltered. "That's not..."

"Save it," I cut him off, yanking my wrist from his grasp. "I have chemistry."

I walked away, feeling the bond stretch painfully between us with each step. My wolf howled in protest, wanting to run back to him, to sink into the comfort and protection he represented on the most primal level. But I kept walking, kept putting one foot in front of the other until I reached the chemistry lab.

Mr Peterson gave me a disapproving look as I slipped into my seat, but mercifully didn't comment on my tardiness. I opened my textbook to a random page, pretending to be deeply absorbed in molecular structures while my mind raced with everything that had just happened.

I'd revealed my deepest, most painful secret to a hallway full of people who'd never truly wanted to know my story. Now they did, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted them to.

For the rest of the day, I felt like I was moving through a fog. The classes blurred together, my teachers' voices becoming distant background noise as I tried to process everything that had happened. Word of my outburst in the hallway had spread like wildfire. I could feel the stares following me everywhere, but at least they were different now, less malicious, more cautious. Even Melissa gave me a wide berth when we passed in the hall between classes.

By lunch period, I was exhausted. I grabbed my food and headed for my usual spot, a quiet corner table where no one ever sat, only to find Kyle already there, waiting. My steps faltered.

"Please," he said quietly, before I could turn away. "Just five minutes."

I should have walked away. Every shred of self-preservation I had left was screaming at me to turn around. But I was tired, so tired of running, of fighting this bond that pulled at me no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.

"Five minutes," I agreed, sliding into the seat across from him, keeping as much distance between us as the small table allowed.

Kyle pushed a bottle of water toward me. "You should drink something. The first day after a shift can be dehydrating."

I took it, surprised by the thoughtful gesture. "Thanks."

"About this morning..."

"I don't want to talk about it," I cut him off, twisting the cap off the water bottle with more force than necessary. "Any of it."

"Okay," he said simply, and the easy acceptance caught me off guard. I'd been prepared for an argument, for him to push the way he always did. "We can just sit here. You should eat."

I eyed my sandwich suspiciously but took a bite anyway. My wolf was ravenous after the shift, even if my human side was too anxious to have much appetite. We sat in awkward silence as I chewed, acutely aware of every movement he made, every breath he took.

"Why are you really here, Kyle?" I finally asked, unable to stand the tension any longer.

He looked up, his amber eyes meeting mine directly. "Because you need to eat. Because I wanted to make sure you were okay after this morning. Because every instinct I have is screaming at me to be near you, and I'm tired of fighting it."

The honesty in his voice made something inside me ache. "It's just the bond," I said, more to convince myself than him. "It's new and raw. It'll fade."

"No," Kyle shook his head. "It won't. And it's not just the bond, Imogen. It's never been just that."

I put my sandwich down, suddenly not hungry anymore. "What do you want from me? Really? Because I can't just... forget everything that happened. I can't pretend the last six years didn't exist."

"I don't want you to," he said, leaning forward slightly. "I want…I want the girl that I’ve been in love with to see who she really is and always has been, even when I was too scared and stupid that I stuffed up something that should have been the most important night of four of our lives.”

The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs. In love with? Kyle Williams been in love with me? I stared at him across the cafeteria table, my mind reeling as I tried to process what he'd just said.

"Don't," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the cafeteria noise around us. "Don't you dare."