Chapter 24: The Last Cut

Dane was standing outside the gate, not inside it.

It was the gate I had walked through on the night of the Hunter's Moon.

The fever had started in my bones right there.

He had a pack on his back and a coat I did not recognize.

He had shaved, and he held his hat in both hands.

Tobin stood three paces behind him with his arms folded.

Duncan had come with me, and he stopped at the post and let me go on alone.

I walked up to the gate and put my hand on the cold iron.

"You wanted something," I said.

"I did." Dane's voice was steady.

"I've been up since four, trying to find a way to ask it that won't sound like I want something."

"You want something."

"I want to be cut."

I did not move.

"Not the way you were," he said quickly. "I don't mean the fever."

"We aren't bonded, so there's no bond to tear. I mean the words, at the Stone, said by the Alpha."

"Why?"

"Because I said them to you seven times, and you never got to say them back."

My throat tightened.

"I've lived all my life in this pack. My father's name is on the Stone."

"I eat at your table every day, and every day I think that if I wait long enough, I can earn my way back in."

He swallowed.

"I can't earn it, Morven. You said so, and you were right. So I would like to stop waiting."

"You want me to release you."

"I want to leave," said Dane. "I want to leave properly, with your word. Then I'll go north."

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