Eleanor's POV
My cries finally began to quiet, hitching into shallow, shaky breaths. I had to sound stronger. I had to make them believe this.
"No one is making me say this," I said, forcing my voice to level out, to sound tired and resigned instead of shattered. "No one. I'm just... I'm just tired of everything."
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. "When I became a werewolf, I thought... I thought it was a second chance. That my life would finally get better. But it just dragged me into a worse spiral. Into things I never wanted."
I could hear their silence on the other end, heavy and waiting.
"And through it all... I found you. All of you." My voice threatened to crack again, but I held it steady. "I wish I could tell you. Or... I wish I'd told you as soon as I found out. But I was selfish. So, so selfish. I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want to lose the comfort, the protection, the... the advantage of being close to you."
