But standing here in Kade's room, wearing his shirt, marked with his claim, looking out at his territory.....
Dakota felt something shift inside her. Something that might have been the beginning of acceptance. Or maybe just exhaustion too deep to fight anymore.
She was here. Whether she'd chosen it consciously or not, whether she could admit it or not, she was here. In Nightshade. Claimed by their Alpha. Cut off from Silver Ridge by her own desperate flight.
And maybe, just maybe, that was okay.
Maybe being here, being wild and broken and honest about both, was better than being in Silver Ridge pretending to be someone she wasn't.
Pretending to be whole when she was shattered. Pretending to care about people who'd.....
Dakota cut that thought off sharply, her chest tightening with panic she refused to examine.
She turned from the window, her eyes catching on one more item, a framed photo on Kade's nightstand that she'd somehow missed.
