Page 37 of Piece You Saved

Why is he wearing sweats? He never wears sweats. Only when he’s lost control of his wolf and shifted, ruining his smart suits. Is that what happened?

I open my mouth to tell him I’m good. And to ask him why he smells like old blood.My blood?But then I remember.

The attic. Rylan.

Saige.

I leap to my feet. Stumble and nearly fall.

Dariel reaches out and grips the scruff of my neck.

Scruff of my…what?

I look down. See the light brown fur. The paws.

No.

I’m not a wolf.

I shake my head.

This isn’t me. I’m not a wolf. This isn’t what I wanted.

It came up before. Years ago, not long after I’d first met Dariel and Kade. It was Dariel who suggested it because as a wolf—as a shifter—I could protect myself better than I could as a human. I always refused. For that to happen would mean I had to give up something I never wanted to. That I never would.

Control.

I’ve always valued my ability to lock away the darkness in my past to be someone who looks—and acts—like someone who has never known pain or suffering.

I never wanted to change who I am. Not then. And not now.

I never wantedthis, and no one knew it more than Dariel.

A low whine slips between my lips.

No.

“It’s okay, Aden. You’re okay.” Dariel’s words usually calm me, but this time they don’t come close to steadying me.

I rip out of his grasp, stagger to my feet, trip over them, because there are two more than there should be, ramming my shoulder into the wall. Thick fur absorbs the impact, and I feel nothing.

Shaking off my unsteadiness, I try again. Manage to stay up this time. I whirl around, but there’s no way out. All doors are closed. Just walls and something over the window. Trapped. I have to get out. I’m trapped in here. Someone locked me in—

“Aden.”

No.

A snarl bursts out of me.

And then a whimper.

No.

The door is closed, but it can’t be strong enough to keep me in here.

I have to get out. I have to get free.

I rush toward it, flinging myself at the white wood. It doesn’t break. I do it again. And again, whining in frustration when it doesn’t give way as it should.

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