Aislinn POV:
The storm had passed, leaving the pre-dawn world washed clean and silent. A pale, grey light filtered through the window. I handed the man a small canvas sack containing a loaf of bread, a piece of cheese, and a full waterskin.
He took it, his fingers brushing mine. The brief contact sent another one of those disorienting jolts through my system. I pulled my hand back as if burned.
"How can I repay you?" he asked, his voice still rough but stronger than before.
"By leaving and never coming back," I said, my tone as cool and grey as the morning. "I don't need any connection to the Ironhead Rogues."
He reached inside his torn jacket and pulled out a small, heavy leather pouch. He untied it and emptied its contents onto the table. Four thick bars of gold gleamed in the lamplight.
"This is a down payment," he said. "It's not enough."
My eyes flickered to the gold. I didn't protest. A rogue knows the value of resources, and I was about to walk back into a viper's nest with nothing but the clothes on my back. I tucked the bars securely into the inner pocket of my clothes.
I rummaged through a chest and tossed him a set of clothes-a worn flannel shirt and rough denim pants that had belonged to the cabin's previous owner. "Change. What you're wearing is too conspicuous."
I also gave him a wide-brimmed hat that would cast his face in shadow.
I turned my back while he changed, but I could feel his gaze on me, a tangible pressure between my shoulder blades.
"There's a boatman at the docks," I said, staring at the wall. "Name's Clyde. First ferry leaves at sunrise. Give him this." I held out a worn, tarnished silver dollar between my thumb and forefinger. "He'll let you on, no questions asked."
He took the coin. "You know the back channels well."
"A person who lives on the run learns how to stay in motion," I replied flatly.
When I turned back, he was dressed. The simple clothes did little to disguise the raw power he radiated. He looked less like a dockworker and more like a predator trying to blend in with sheep.
He walked to the door, then stopped. He turned around slowly. The look in his eyes had changed. The wariness was gone, replaced by an intensity that made the air in the cabin feel thick and heavy.
He moved toward me, closing the distance in two long strides. Before I could react, his hand shot out and clamped around my wrist.
Instantly, my body tensed. My free hand dropped to the hilt of the dagger tucked into my belt. It was a reflex born of three years of constant threat.
But he wasn't attacking. His grip was firm but not crushing. His thumb moved, stroking gently over the thin, old silver chain I always wore. My mother's bracelet.
It was a simple thing, adorned with a few small charms she had collected. His fingers traced the delicate links until they found the one I cherished most: a tiny, intricately carved wolf.
A low growl rumbled in his chest, a sound so deep it vibrated through my bones. His blue eyes darkened, the pupils dilating until they were almost black. His wolf was at the surface, overriding reason, driven by an instinct I was only just beginning to understand.
"I need something," he said, his voice a low command. "So I can find you again."
Before I could form a protest, his fingers tightened on the tiny charm. With a sharp twist, he snapped it from the bracelet. The sound of the delicate link breaking was unnaturally loud in the quiet room.
I gasped, a mix of shock and anger surging through me. "That was my mother's."
I reached for it, but he closed his fist, encasing the small piece of silver. His expression was resolute, unyielding. An Alpha claiming what he believed was his.
"My name is Garrett," he said, his voice dropping to a near whisper, a promise and a threat all in one. "I will find you. I will return this. And I will pay the rest of my debt."
My lips pressed into a thin, hard line. I could fight him. I could pull my dagger and demand it back. But I saw the look in his eyes. He was a dangerous man, and pushing him now, when he was cornered and wounded, would be a foolish risk. My plan, my entire future, depended on me walking out of this cabin and back to the Blair estate. I couldn't afford a bloody confrontation.
Slowly, deliberately, I lowered my hand from my dagger. I pulled my wrist from his grasp.
He held my gaze for one last, searing moment, as if memorizing every detail of my face. Then, without another word, he turned and slipped out the door, disappearing into the morning mist as silently as he had arrived.
I stood frozen, my fingers tracing the empty, broken link on my bracelet. A strange sense of loss, sharp and unexpected, pierced through my carefully constructed walls.
I shook it off. It was a transaction. He paid in gold. I paid with a piece of my past.
There was no time for sentiment. I moved to the fireplace, my actions swift and methodical. I stuffed his blood-soaked clothes and the used bandages into the hearth, adding kindling until a strong flame caught.
As the fire consumed the last evidence of the stranger named Garrett, I watched, my face illuminated by the destructive glow. His presence was erased.
Now, it was time to begin my own war.
