Steele's POV
Six Months Later
The pierced skin and wounds made of slits had since healed, but the pain in her betrayed eyes haunted me every time I tried to close my own. If heartbreak were ever to embody a person, it was her in that moment. And I wouldn't stop until I amended it. Even if Ansel's words were true to a point, the second I claimed her as my own it meant she would never be rid of me. Not in death. And certainly not in this life.
My attempts to fix what perception of me was shattered was met with what would be a suicide mission if I advanced. Still, I lingered just out of reach. Watching her slowly acclimate into some semblance of a life that was a mask of what she truly wanted to live for. Still, I watched her become stronger through every training spar and more confident
