This is dedicated to @amelie7512!! Thank you for waiting so patiently for this next chapter. :)

Also, I don't know if I thanked you guys already but 11.1K reads?? I'm sooo grateful for everything who stuck around for this journey. I hope to be wrapping it up this year. :)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE | CLOSER

We arrive at the clearing once again. Although it's been roughly a week since we've last been here it feels like centuries instead.

"Hello, Elder Vittoria." I nod, with a small smile. The smile is mainly to encourage myself, and hide the fact that I'm deathly afraid of what's to come.

"Hello child. You both remember how we begin the ritual correct?" She asks, looking over at us both.

"Yes." Jace responds solemnly, as he holds his palms out to me. I open mine, keeping my gaze on Elder Vittoria. She draws the Moon Stone, first slicing gently onto Jace hand, and mine next. Once the crimson peeks through our flesh, Jace gingerly takes my hands in his.

I have yet to look at him properly, It's a cruel twist of fate to be in this predicament with him.

You don't have to like me, to work with me Amara.

His words wrap around my head in a tired remark.

I just want to live. I think, forlornly.

I catch Jace's gaze held firmly on mine. He gives a slight nod at this, although there's no words I feel his solemn agreement.

I close my eyes, and attempt to focus. Focus on the silence, focus on the darkness, how it feels almost comforting.

The world around us comes to a halt. The darkness envelops me with his familiar grasp.

I look around me, seeing nothing else- I take a cautious step forward.

A large paw steps toward me in the same moment. The wolf that I've seen previously.

It steps closer to me, emerging from the darkness. Sleek black fur that ripples with each movement.

My skin feels like it's vibrating down to my bones with anticipation. Beside myself, I take a step forward to meet it.

It's violet eyes beckons to me, holding my gaze fiercely. I attempt to take another step forward, but my legs feel like they're trapped in a layer of sand.

The wolf watches my struggle, I reach a hand forward but it doesn't make another step forward.

Breathe Amara.

Jace's voice breaks through the silence.

Listen to Elder Vittoria's chant, hear it lowly in the background. Focus on the wolf's gaze, and welcome it. You'll be able to step closer.

Despite myself, I take a deep breath. My eyebrows clench together as I push to concentrate. Elder Vittoria's incantation reaches my ears as a low murmur. I maintain my gaze with the Wolf.

It's gaze now looks to me inquisitively, as if it were questioning my intentions. I offer a shallow nod, attempting to take another step again. This time, it feels lighter and I'm able to make a step forward. It mirrors my step forward, the gap between us now closing.

Closer than I was in our initial meeting.

When my foot falls onto step, I feel another wall. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, before I could move to make another attempt I'm pulled away. The sounds of the crashing waves onto the rocky lake shore come back, the leaves on the tree tops rustle with the wind.

My eyes snap open, and I let out the gasp of air that I didn't know I was holding. Jace looks to me cautiously, I give him a small nod and pull my hands away from his.

"You two are progressing." Elder Vittoria remarks.

"It feels like I'm hitting a wall." I admit.

Elder Vittoria hums in acknowledgment. "You must search through your intentions, there is something there that doesn't want to welcome your wolf."

I let her words sit in my thoughts, "I see."

The guards watches Jace cautiously, I can see him shift in discomfort.

"Cursed one"

Her words has Jace flinch ever so slightly. As if the comment strikes a cord with him.

"Do you find your affliction under control?"

"The recent days have been quieter than usual." He responds, in a wintry tone.

She nods at this and gestures for us to walk with her. "It's because of your connection with your wolf. The closer that you are, the stronger your control over yourself will be."

"I understand."

We meet the guards at the forest line, they accompany Jace closely.

I observe him in this proximity, I was so focused on the ritual that I didn't pay attention previously. His features look war torn in comparison to our first meeting. Dark bags have formed under his eyes, his hair a tousled mess.

I want to hate him. I do hate him.

But why help me, if it could cost him his life too?

He's an enigma.

"Why're you here Jace?" I ask, allowing my curiosity to get the best of me.

He looks over to me, with surprise laced in his expression.

"You." He admits, under his breath. "I needed to find you."

I think back to the night he arrived here, when Ezra had come with me to question him. He did say a few details.

"I want my life back too, Amara," he says, his voice quieter now, as if releasing the words eases a weight he's carried for too long. A heavy breath escapes him, and his shoulders seem to loosen, the burden of guilt beginning to unravel. "I never meant to hurt you in the process. That night... I couldn't control my—this affliction." His gaze drops for a moment, conflicted, before meeting mine again with raw sincerity. "I wanted to kill the Wendigo, but never at your expense." Saying it out loud feels like unburdening a secret that's haunted him, though the pain of it still lingers in the air between us.

My chest tightens, his words unravels the hatred I've held onto for so long. That anger had been a shield, my reason to keep him at arm's length and make him a scapegoat, but now, seeing the guilt etched across his face, the cracks begin to show.

I want to cling to the resentment—it's safer, easier—but his confession stirs something deeper. A flicker of doubt pierces through my resolve, unraveling the story I've told myself over and over.

Torn between the sharp edges of betrayal and the faint whisper of understanding. And as my walls begin to falter, one terrifying thought settles in my mind: what if I had been wrong?