Beneath The Willow

Remi’s POV

The first week under the new ordinance had been chaotic—but effective.

Rae managed to block out the hacker before any permanent damage was done to the hospital systems, but I hadn’t heard from her since. Or from Del. Not a single message, ping, or update. And that silence—it wasn’t just unusual. It was terrifying.

I tried not to dwell on it as I stood just outside the hospital, watching two of the night patrol teams review their routes on the updated map I’d posted to the main board. The perimeter wards were holding strong, and for the first time in weeks, there was a pulse of guarded hope in the air. But tension always lurked just beneath the surface. We weren’t safe—we were surviving.

I made a note to restock the supply kits. They’d burned through more of the medicinal wolfsbane than I expected.

“Hey,” came a voice behind me. Deep. Familiar. Hesitant.

I turned. Will.

He looked more tired than usual. His jaw was tight, like he was bracing himself for something unpleasant.

“You got a minute?” he asked.

“I’m technically off-shift in ten,” I replied. “But sure.”

We walked along the path behind the clinic in silence. The night was cool, the moonlight cutting through the trees above us. He stopped by the old bench near the willow—our bench, from years ago, before everything went to hell.

“I wanted to thank you,” he said. “For stepping in when you didn’t have to. For saving Trey. For organizing the patrols. All of it.”

I studied him carefully. “That sounds a lot like a peace offering.”

He gave a tight smile. “Maybe it is. Maybe I’m just tired of the space between us.”

I crossed my arms. “You mean the space you and your friends put there?”

He flinched, and good—he should.

“Remi,” he said, quieter now, “I made mistakes. I didn’t fight for you when I should have. I didn’t protect you. And I regret that—every day.”

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. Just old pain, still raw. “You didn’t protect me? Will, you made me the target.”

He looked stricken, but I didn’t stop.

“You, Elijah, and Trey—you made jokes, whispered things in training, made sure everyone remembered I was the human girl born to wolves who didn’t shift. You treated me like I was defective. Like I didn’t belong.” My voice shook now, not from weakness, but from the weight of too many years of biting my tongue. “You isolated me so thoroughly, it made leaving the easiest decision of my life.”

Will’s mouth opened slightly, like he wanted to deny it—but he didn’t. He couldn’t.

“You and your friends made it clear I was never in the pack, not really. So why would I stay? Why would I waste another second trying to earn a place that was never going to be mine?”

His shoulders sagged under the blow of my words.

“I was young. I was stupid,” he said. “That doesn’t excuse it, but I didn’t understand the damage I was doing.”

“No, you didn’t,” I snapped. “And when the real accusations came—when people started turning on me for things I didn’t do—you didn’t say a word. You stood there. You let it happen. Like you always had.”

He looked away, jaw tight, throat working like he was forcing himself not to react. “You’re right,” he finally said. “I failed you. Over and over. I can’t take it back, but I want to make it right. Now. However I can.”

I shook my head, swallowing hard. “I don’t hate you, Will. But I don’t trust you. You helped make me feel completely alone—and I carried that for a long time. Still do, some days.”

“I know,” he said softly. “And maybe I don’t deserve anything from you. But I’ll earn whatever you’re willing to give—one step at a time.”

I looked at him, heart still aching, but voice firm. “Then start walking, Will. Because it’s going to take more than words.”

He nodded once, solemn. “I will. Because whether we like it or not, something’s coming. And we need to be ready. Together.”

Then he turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows like a ghost from a life I had to claw my way out of.

And I stood beneath that old willow, the weight of everything we used to be pressing against my chest—alongside the gnawing fear that Rae and Del were already gone.