Dante
She didn’t say goodbye.
She didn’t need to.
I watched her walk away from the cliffs, arms crossed tight across her chest, spine stiff like a soldier trying not to break. Every part of me wanted to go after her, pull her back, kiss her until she forgot how much she hated me. But I didn’t.
Because I knew I was part of the problem.
And if I kept pushing, I’d become the enemy she needed protection from.
The moon hung low, fat and orange, bleeding over the treetops. It should have brought me peace—it used to—but tonight it just reminded me how much time I was running out of.
Shirley was changing.
And she had no idea how fast.
Back at the clubhouse, the air was thick with smoke and tension. Talon sat at the long table in the war room, flipping a knife between his fingers like he w
