Chapter 63

Jesse

The fire had long since died, but I was still awake, seated in my wooden chair and watching the embers fade. I hadn't slept in so long. Not since she had arrived. How could I have managed to sleep when things had just finally gotten exciting?

The fire was nearly completely out when the scout approached, his silhouette outlined in the faint orange haze, breath puffing in quick little bursts in the cool night air. He didn’t speak right away. Instead, he hovered, fidgeting like a restless pup. It irked me to see him so unsure.

I lowered my gaze and began to sharpen the naked blade across my lap. It seemed to pose a more authoritative picture. My hands were slow from drinking, but I was restless and needed to give them some task to occupy them.

“Well?” I finally asked.

He swallowed. “Logan’s scouts have been sniffing around the southern border of camp. Maybe five or six others. That Prince Alex is one of them, and Logan was spotted twice as well. They’re careful, but not careful enough. Many of our scouts have seen them working. They’re testing our defenses.”

I smirked. “Of course they are.”

I sheathed the knife with a satisfying click in the holster at my hip and faced him fully.

“Have they dared to try crossing yet?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, sir. Not yet.”

“They won’t.” I stepped closer. “Not while we have her. Logan may be a lot of things, but he is not a fool. He won’t risk her life.”

The scout nodded, trying not to show how relieved he was to be dismissed. “Should I post more scouts at the borders?”

“No. Let them play. Let them think they’re learning something. It makes no difference if they can’t use that information. And they won’t, so long as we have Evelyn. I’m sure of it.”

I paused, thinking. We didn’t need to bolster our defenses, but their snooping also didn’t have to go unanswered.

“Come back at first light. I’ll have a letter for you to deliver to the dear Alpha,” I said.

The boy gave a nod, turned, and disappeared into the shadows, eager to be gone.

At such a late hour, the quiet echoed as the camp was wrapped in stillness. Victory had a funny way of ringing hollow. You’d think this silence would feel peaceful, but it didn’t. Not tonight.

A tattered quill, half-dried ink, and the rough parchment lay waiting on top of my desk. I dipped the quill and began to write.

Logan,

I assume you’ve been keeping busy, circling my borders like a starving dog sniffing around for scraps. Have you found anything interesting yet? I very much doubt it. Word of advice: Don’t bother.

As long as Evelyn is here, we both know you won’t step foot past my guards. If you have any intelligence at all, you wouldn’t dare try. I would prefer not to use her as a means of punishment for you, but I will if you try my hand. That much I can promise you.

But rest assured, so long as you remain in your rightful place away from here, she will continue to be well taken care of.

In ways you couldn’t manage.

I intend to show her what it means to be valued. And not as a second choice, the way you treated her with Emma. No, here, she will be the priority. With time, she will forget about you and your betrayals.

And soon, she’ll understand what it means to belong to someone who would never walk away from her. That is another promise I will make to you and her.

I’ll protect her. I’ll cherish her. And I’ll make sure she never needs you again.

Sleep well, brother. Oh, and stay the fuck away from my borders.

—Jesse

I signed it with a flourish and set the letter aside to dry. The wine waited for me, warm and half-finished, and I poured another cup with practiced ease. The bitter taste grounded me. Or at least it did as much as it could manage. Nowadays, not even copious goblets of the stuff were enough to quell my thoughts and stave off the memories.

As I sealed the letter with a nondescript press of wax, I sighed into the quiet.. It was possible that, aside from my patrolling guards, I was the only one left awake. My rogues had all turned in. Even the ones who cheered loudest when Logan fell had gone to their cots, satiated from an exciting day of violence. And I sat there alone, surrounded by shadows and silence.

My gaze drifted to the flap of my tent, feeling suddenly restless.

I didn’t even have to think about where my feet carried me. I just moved. Slowly. Softly. I stepped out into the cool night air, letting its crisp embrace take me down the winding makeshift path between tents. Wine in one hand, the other trailing along the rough canvas walls of my makeshift kingdom, my feet took me to her.

The tent we had set up for Evelyn was near the healer’s corner, far enough from the main quarters to allow her some privacy while still walling her into our camp’s confines. It allowed for the illusion of freedom, but she was not entirely free now.

Not really. She belonged to this camp now. To me.

I stopped just outside and peered through the barely parted flaps. With a nudge of my finger, I pushed them asunder even more to give me a better view.

She was asleep, or convincingly pretending to be. Her hair was fanned out across the thin pillow, her face calm, peaceful in a way that didn’t belong in a place like this. I had not seen her appear so at ease ever. It stirred something in me to see her so relaxed, so unaware that the man who now decided her fate was standing just outside.

Mine. She was utterly mine now. And I would do whatever it took to keep it that way.

The fact that Logan couldn’t do a damn thing about it made it sweeter. For once, I had won against him. Not just in our duel, but in life. His wife slept just feet from me, utterly at ease. Again, what I had taken had been through years of planning and training. It made it all the more satisfying to see the fruits of my labor laid out in the cot before me.

I raised the goblet slowly, the wine catching the faint glint of moonlight.

“To the girl who was never yours,” I murmured, voice low. “And the woman who will never leave me.”

I drank deeply, letting the fire in the wine mask the fire in my chest. I wanted to be lost to the feeling of its dulling balm again and swallowed until the goblet was hollow. Then, I gave her one final, lingering look before I allowed the curtains to fall back into place and shield me from view once again.

She would stay. No matter what I had to do, Evelyn was never leaving. Logan would never have her again if I had any say in it.

And that was a promise I’d etch into the world with fire and blood if I had to.