Page 58 of Unveiled

Adrian hit him. Not with a fist. He wasn’t that reckless, not with his clan watching and the clearing already primed to turn into something uglier. With the heel of his palm, he slapped hard straight across Garrett’s mouth. It snapped Garrett’s head sideways and shut him up mid-syllable.

A sharp intake of breath rippled through the crowd.

Max’s voice carried, low and warning. “Enough, Donaldson.”

Garrett spat blood into the grass and laughed, thick and ugly. “Aye. That’s it. Hit me. Silence me. But you can’t silence what you are.”

Adrian’s hands curled, mud slick between his fingers. His wolf surged under his skin, furious at being kept behind bone and breath. He forced it down with sheer will.

“This isn’t about what I am,” he said savagely. “It’s about what you’re doing.”

Garrett’s grin widened, feral. “I’m doing what you won’t. I’m saying what everyone’s thinking.”

Adrian leaned closer, letting Garrett see the cold in his eyes. “No. You’re trying to make fear look like courage.” He let go of Garrett’s chest. His gaze flicked, toward the ring of onlookers. His own people were hungry for certainty while Adrian was tense with expectation.

Then Garrett’s eyes sharpened, as if he’d found a new angle.

“You actually feel him,” Garrett rasped. “Don’t you?”

Adrian’s stomach tightened. He hated that Garrett could see it. Hated that the truth was in his body even when Adrian himself couldn’t put it in words. “I don’t feel anything,” Adrian lied.

Garrett’s laugh was a wet bark. “You do. You’re tethered. You’re—”

Adrian tightened his grip on Garrett’s collar and hauled him up, forcing him to meet his gaze. “Listen to me,” he said, low enough so only Garrett could hear. “You don’t get to use Connor as an excuse for your own cowardice.”

Garrett’s eyes flared. “Cowardice?”

“Oui,” Adrian said. “Because you’re terrified. Not of me. Not of him. But the fact the world’s changed and you can’t punch it back into the shape you’re comfortable with.”

Garrett’s breath came hard. His hands scrabbled at Adrian’s forearm, trying to pry him off. “You think you’re above it. You think you’re the only one who can bear it.”

Adrian smiled contemptuously. “I’m the one who has to.”

Garrett’s gaze flicked past him, toward the tree line. Adrian felt it again: a tightening under his ribs, sudden and sharp, like a cord drawn taut. Not exactly pain, but more a pressure that made his breath catch and his focus narrow to a single point.

The bond. It flared with urgency, but not quite here yet, though close enough that Adrian’s body reacted as if Connor had stepped within arm’s reach. The air seemed changed, charged, as if the clearing had become a magnet and Adrian was iron being pulled toward it.

Garrett saw the flicker in Adrian’s eyes and smiled. “There,” Garrett whispered, triumphant. “There he is. In you.”

Adrian’s rage went cold. He released Garrett abruptly and rose to his feet, forcing space between them.

The crowd shifted, murmuring, sensing the change even if they didn’t understand it.

Garrett pushed himself up, swaying slightly, blood on his chin. He wiped it with the back of his hand and spread his arms as if presenting Adrian to the clans. “Look at him,” Garrett called, his voice loud now, carrying. “Look at your King. He says he’s no puppet, but he jumps when the strings pull.”

Max moved a step forward, his eyes like flint. Rowland’s posture changed too. Ready. Protective.

Adrian’s voice cut through the growing noise. “This ends now.”

Garrett’s laugh was sharp. “It ends when you prove you’re not going to drag us into the Veils because some village named you and that fucking Scotsman heroes.”

Adrian took one step toward him. “You want proof? Fine.” He didn’t know what he meant until the words were out.

Garrett’s eyes glittered. “Aye?”

Adrian’s gaze swept the circle of his clan, all of them hungry for something solid to hold on to. He felt the weight of it like armour and chains. “We’re not leaving this valley,” Adrian said, his voice loud, steady. “Not for the village. Not for the Council. Not for anyone. I’ll defend what’s mine. That’s the only promise I’ve ever made.”

A murmur ran through the clan signalling approval and relief.