Give it back. But she refused to let go. Her grip tightened, her lip trembled.
I tightened my fingers on the base of the hawthorn tree, tugging it toward me.
“Give it to me!” I almost screamed in annoyance.
“Why can’t you just lend it?!”
The fragile thing slipped between our hands.
Time seemed to slow as it fell, spinning once, twice — then shattered on the hardwood floor.
The pieces scattered like fallen stars, and the soft moonlight trapped inside flared once before fading to dull glass.
Trisha gasped and immediately crouched down, her hands clutching at her shin as though she’d been wounded by the shards.
Just then, the gate slammed open.
Ryan and Warren stepped inside, the scent of wolf fur and the cold night wind clinging to them.
The moment their eyes fell on Trisha — kneeling on the floor, the broken crystal around her and blood trickling down her pale shin — they rushed forward.
“Trisha!” they cried in unison, both dropping to her side.
Ryan’s hands trembled as he lifted the hem of her skirt to inspect her shin, his jaw tightening at the sight of the shallow cut.
“You’re bleeding,” he muttered, his voice pained. “I’ll take you to the healer.”
“No, I—” she began weakly, but Ryan swept her into his arms anyway, his eyes dark with worry.
Warren stayed behind just long enough to round on me, his fury hot and bitter in the air.
“Alli,” he snarled, his fangs glinting. “You already have everything — why do you have to bully her too?!”
I froze. Then laughed bitterly.
“That was my award,” I said coldly. “I worked years for it. It’s my honor, my name carved on it. She clung to it and now it’s broken — and you think I’m the one who wronged her?”
I jabbed a finger toward the shards on the ground, my voice sharp as an icicle.
“She owes me an apology.”
But Warren’s eyes only burned hotter.
“It’s just a statue!” he shouted. “You can win and buy as many as you want! How can you compare that to Trisha being hurt?!”
He shoved a finger toward me, his wolf barely restrained under his skin.
“You should fucking apologize to her!”
Without waiting for a reply, he shifted — his dark gray wolf shaking off the remains of his clothes — and darted out the door to catch up with Ryan and Trisha.
The house fell silent again. I stood there staring at the shards of moonlight at my feet, Warren’s words echoing in my ears.