Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Maya POV
I shifted the weight in my arms and walked toward the half-built wall near the edge of the clearing. My legs still felt weak, like they didn’t fully belong to me yet, but they held.
That was enough.
“Careful,” someone muttered as I passed.
Not unkind.
Just… cautious.
I nodded slightly. “I will.”
I reached the stack and lowered the wood into place, adjusting it until it sat evenly with the others.
My hands shook a little.
I told myself it was from the effort.
It wasn’t.
A hammer landed beside me.
I flinched before I could stop myself.
“…relax,” Bren said.
I looked up.
He stood a few steps away, not too close, not too far. Holding out the hammer like it was nothing important.
“Didn’t mean to drop it like that,” he added.
I hesitated, then took it. “It’s fine.”
Silence settled between us.
Not comfortable.
Not tense either.
Just… there.
He nodded toward the wall. “You’re lining them wrong.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Too tight,” he said. “It’ll crack when it settles.”
I looked at the wood, then back at him. “I’ve done this before.”
“I know,” he said simply. “Still wrong.”
I stared at him.
He didn’t smile.
Didn’t soften it.
Just stood there like he meant it.
“…show me, then,” I said.
He stepped forward slowly, crouching beside me.
“Like this,” he said, nudging one of the pieces slightly. “You leave space. Not much. Just enough so it can shift without breaking.”
I watched his hands.
Steady.
Sure.
Not controlled.
Just… his.
I swallowed.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “I see it.”
He nodded once and stepped back again, giving me space like he’d promised without saying it.
“Thanks,” I added.
“Yeah.”
We worked in silence after that.
Not forced.
Not awkward.
Just… working.
Every now and then, I felt eyes on me.
Some wolves passed by without stopping.
Some slowed.
Some turned away entirely.
I didn’t blame them.
I wouldn’t trust me either.
“Don’t look at them like that.”
I glanced at Bren. “Like what?”
“Like you’re waiting for them to throw something.”
“I’m not—”
“You are.”
I exhaled. “It’s hard not to.”
He shrugged. “Give it time.”
“That’s what everyone says.”
“Because it’s true.”
I pressed the wood into place, a little harder than necessary. “Time doesn’t change what I did.”
“No,” he said. “But it changes what you do next.”
I went quiet.
That… sounded like something Noland would say.
Or Rhett.
Not Bren.
I glanced at him again.
“You really believe that?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
He leaned back slightly against the half-built wall. “Because I was there.”
My chest tightened.
“When they controlled me,” he continued, quieter now. “When I couldn’t… stop it.” His jaw clenched. “I remember parts of it.”
I didn’t say anything.
“I remember thinking I’d never be able to come back from that,” he added. “That even if I broke free, it wouldn’t matter.”
I swallowed. “But you did.”
“Yeah.”
“And it did matter.”
“Yeah.”
He looked at me then.
“That’s why I’m not throwing anything,” he said.
I looked down at my hands.
“…thank you,” I said softly.
He shrugged it off, but I saw the tension ease in his shoulders.
Footsteps approached from behind us.
I didn’t turn right away.
Didn’t want to.
But I felt it.
That presence.
Steady. Quiet.
Familiar.
Cael.
I knew it before he spoke.
“You’re standing longer today.”
I closed my eyes for half a second.
Then turned.
He stood a few feet away, exactly where he’d been for the past two days.
Close enough to see.
Far enough not to interfere.
“I’m working,” I said.
“I can see that.”
His voice was calm. Not accusing. Not soft either.
Just… even.
Bren shifted slightly beside me. Not defensive. Just aware.
Cael’s gaze flicked to him briefly, then back to me.
“You shouldn’t be lifting heavy yet,” he said.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fully healed.”
“I’m still doing it.”
He studied me for a moment.
Then nodded. “Okay.”
That was it.
No argument.
No pressure.
He stepped back again, returning to his usual place — watching, but not hovering.
I frowned slightly. “That’s all?”
Bren muttered, “What, you wanted a lecture?”
“I expected one.”
Cael spoke without moving closer. “You don’t need one.”
I looked at him.
“Not from me,” he added.
Something in my chest twisted.
I turned back to the wall before I could think too much about it.
We worked longer after that.
The sun shifted. Shadows stretched.
At some point, Eli passed by, glancing between me and Bren.
“…this feels weirdly normal,” he muttered.
“Don’t ruin it,” Bren said.
“I’m not ruining it.”
“You are.”
“I’m observing.”
“Go observe somewhere else.”
Eli grinned. “Noted.”
He walked off.
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Later, when the work slowed, I stepped back from the wall and wiped my hands on my pants.
It wasn’t perfect.
But it was standing.
“Not bad,” Bren said.
“High praise.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
I huffed quietly.
Across the clearing, I caught sight of Tiara laughing with the other kids, spinning in uneven circles like nothing in the world could touch her.
My chest tightened.
But not in the same way it used to.
Not sharp.
Not suffocating.
Just… full.
“You going to keep staring,” Bren said, “or are you staying?”
I blinked. “What?”
He nodded toward the clearing. “You keep looking like you’re about to leave.”
I didn’t realize I was.
I looked around.
At the half-built homes.
At the wolves moving through them.
At the spaces that still felt unfamiliar… but not impossible.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
Bren shrugged. “Figure it out.”
I let out a slow breath.
Then, quieter—
“I want to stay.”
He nodded once. “Then stay.”
I looked toward the edge of the clearing.
Cael was still there.
Watching.
Not asking.
Not pushing.
Just… there.
Waiting.
For me.
Not for an answer.
Just for me.
I turned back to the wall.
To the work.
To the place that still felt fragile beneath my feet.
And for the first time since everything broke—
I didn’t feel like I was standing on borrowed ground.
I felt like I had a place.
Not earned yet.
Not fully.
But real enough to stand on.
So I stayed.