The thought comes to me quietly, which is how I know it’s dangerous, slipping into the back of my mind while I’m staring at the ceiling and listening to the packhouse breathe around me, doors opening and closing, footsteps passing in the hall, voices lowering whenever they get too close to my room. Disappearing would be the cleanest solution, the kind that cuts the tension at the root instead of letting it fester, and the longer I lie there the more practical it starts to sound, because if I’m gone there’s nothing for the pack to react to and nothing for Daniel to circle like a vulture waiting for weakness.
I don’t say it out loud.
I don’t even let myself finish the thought properly, because the moment I do I see Axel’s face when he realises I’ve vanished, the way his control would fract
