Page 178 of Bend

“Yeah.” Wolfe’s voice is rougher now, but there’s still that familiar warmth in it. “Love you too. Even if you are a miserable fucking wanker.”

“Fuck you.”

“Usually your answer to everything.”

That gets the smallest laugh out of Thorne, wrecked and breathless.

Then Wolfe says, softer, “Waŋyéča.”

My eyes burn instantly.

“Wolfe…”

“Hey.”

“Wolfe, no.”

His next breath drags through the comm.

“Stop being so scared of taking up space, okay?”

I shake my head even though he can’t see me.

“Don’t do this.”

“People deserve your light, Echo. You hear me? Stop hiding it from them.”

My throat closes.

“I love you,” I choke out. “I fucking love you.”

“Love you too, waŋyéča.”

The line breaks beneath a burst of static.

“Wolfe?”

Nothing.

Then his comm comes back, weaker this time. Wind, engine, something scraping underneath it.

Andre leans toward the radio. “Wolfe?”

Another rough sound tears through the channel.

And when Wolfe speaks again, all the playfulness is gone.

Just quiet certainty.

“Well…”

A breath.

“At least I got to know you both love me.”

“Wolfe—”

Thorne says his name too.