CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Eira walked fast, head down, her chest tight from everything she had thrown at Ronan and everything he had thrown back without a word. Guilt clawed at her throat with every step, twisting her stomach, but she forced herself to keep moving. Her hands curled into fists, her mind racing with the memory of his hollow eyes, his silent heartbreak. She didn't want to think about it anymore, but she couldn't stop.
She didn't even notice Nahila until the other girl stepped out from behind a tree, calm, measured, but eyes sharp and unreadable.
Eira stopped. "What do you want?" Her voice was steady, but her chest ached.
Nahila didn't greet her. She didn't need to. "We need to talk about Ronan."
Eira exhaled slowly. "I don't want to do this."
"That's unfortunate," Nahila said, voice soft, almost too controlled. "Because I'm not walking away until you hear me."
Eira clenched her jaw. "Fine. Say it."
Nahila stepped closer. "I saw him today. I saw the way he looked at you. The way he… shattered. I've never seen him like that. Whatever happened between you two, you hurt him."
Eira's stomach twisted. "That's not your business."
"It became my business the moment he walked past me like a ghost." Nahila's voice sharpened, pain and frustration threading through it. "He didn't even shift back. Do you know how bad that is for him?"
Eira's hands trembled slightly. She swallowed hard. "Nahila, stop."
"No," Nahila snapped, stepping closer. "You act like your choices only affect you. Like you're the only one carrying feelings in this entire kingdom. Ronan cares. He always cared."
Eira folded her arms tightly. "I never asked him to."
"You didn't stop him either."
A hot wave rose behind Eira's eyes. Guilt, shame, anger—all tangled together. "You don't get to judge me."
"I'm not judging you," Nahila said, voice low, cold, cutting. "I'm confronting you. Because someone has to."
Eira let out a bitter laugh. "Of course it's you. Always poking into places you don't belong."
That hit Nahila, but she didn't flinch. "I care about him. That's not a crime."
"Oh really?" Eira turned fully, eyes sharp. "Do you like Ronan too now?"
Nahila held her gaze. "I can. Maybe I think he deserves someone who actually cares. Someone who won't treat him like an option."
Eira's breath caught, chest tightening. Nahila's words felt like fire.
"Someone who won't use their confusion as an excuse to hurt him whenever they feel overwhelmed," Nahila added.
Eira's voice cracked. "You don't know what I'm dealing with."
"And you don't know what Ronan is dealing with. You don't know where he is, you don't know what he's going through. You don't care what might happen," Nahila shot back, the words sharp, deliberate.
Eira looked down, swallowing hard, but the guilt hardened into defiance. She stepped closer, voice cold, cutting. "You're lecturing me about love? You?"
Nahila froze, taken aback, but only for a heartbeat.
"You always want something you can't have," Eira spat, voice trembling with fury. "First it was Kael. You chased him until you humiliated yourself."
Nahila inhaled sharply, fists clenching.
"And now," Eira continued, "you're trying to insert yourself into this too. Into me. Into Ronan. Into everything that isn't yours."
"That's not fair," Nahila said, voice trembling, eyes burning with both anger and hurt.
"You know what's not fair?" Eira shot back. "You acting like you suddenly know best. Like you're the guardian of everyone's emotions when you can't even manage your own."
"Nahila, stop," she said, voice quivering slightly, but Nahila didn't move.
"You don't deserve love. You don't understand it," Eira said, venom laced with guilt and desperation. "Ronan will always come back to me. Not to you. Never to you."
Nahila's eyes flared, a storm barely contained.
Eira's next words landed like ice. "You're just a whore for anyone's attention. That's all you've ever been."
The slap came instantly. Eira barely had time to react. Her head snapped to the side, her cheek burning. Shock and fury flared inside both of them.
"Say that again," Nahila seethed.
The shift came like instinct. Fur tore through skin, bones cracked, and two wolves faced each other, tense, snarling, trembling with raw emotion.
"EIRA!" Kael's voice rang out, shattering the moment.
Before they could strike again, his arms wrapped around Eira's torso, strong and unyielding, his heartbeat pounding against her back. Panic rolled off him in waves, and she froze, caught between the fire of her anger and the warmth of his protection.
"Stop," he breathed, voice trembling. "Eira, stop—please."
She struggled for a moment, then the fear in his voice broke through. Her fury faltered, replaced by confusion and lingering guilt. She couldn't hurt him—not him, not now.
Kael lifted a hand to her cheek. "You're hurt," he whispered, vulnerability slipping through his control, fear of losing her shining in his eyes.
Nahila stepped back a few feet, chest heaving, eyes still burning. Kael's gaze snapped toward her, razor-sharp and commanding—a warning, a line drawn. Nahila's jaw tightened. She swallowed and, without another word, turned and walked away, shoulders tense, storm of emotions unspoken behind her.
Kael loosened his grip slightly, but Eira jerked free, stepping back like the touch burned her. "Don't—just don't," she spat, voice cracking, eyes glossy but refusing tears.
Kael reached out again, gentler this time. "Eira—"
She shook her head, fury coiling like a spring. "I don't want to talk."
Then she turned sharply and walked away, fast, unsteady, her heart hammering—not just from the confrontation, but from the guilt, the anger, the love she had refused to name. Furious at Nahila, furious at herself, furious at Ronan, furious at Kael, furious at the world.
Kael stood still, chest heaving, breath rough, watching the girl he loved slip away into the darkening forest, feeling her escape not just his grasp, but the fragile calm of a world they all tried desperately to hold together