Chapter 155: Be considerate

Chapter 155: Chapter 155: Be considerate

"I can’t tell you."

His eyes narrowed. "Can’t... or won’t?"

"Won’t."

The blunt answer seemed to irritate him more than an excuse would have. He stared at her, his lips pressing into a thin line before he took a small step closer.

"Why?"

She met his gaze refusing to pretend she owed him an explanation.

"Because I’m using you, Caleb."

His expression shifted slightly.

She continued before he could interrupt. "I’ve been giving you information about myself because I have a reason for doing so. I know you’ll report some of what you’ve learned to Moonfist’s leadership, and I’m counting on that. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to hand you every secret I have."

Caleb’s eyes remained fixed on hers.

"Especially not something this important," she added. "If I tell you more about who I am, what I’ve experienced, and what I know, you could share it with other people. And once that information is out of my hands, I lose control over what happens to it."

She tilted her head slightly.

"No reasonable person would willingly put themselves at that kind of disadvantage. You wouldn’t do it either, so don’t act as though you don’t understand."

Caleb’s nostrils flared faintly. His gaze searched her face, perhaps hoping to find a crack in her composure, some sign that she might reconsider if he pushed hard enough.

He didn’t like being kept in the dark. He liked even less that Amelia had a habit of revealing just enough to make him question everything he thought he knew, then shutting him out the moment he tried to get answers.

But he couldn’t deny that her reasoning made sense.

If their positions were reversed, he wouldn’t have handed her his secrets either. Caleb looked back at her, his expression hardening into something more determined than angry.

"Fine. Keep your secrets."

Amelia said nothing.

"But I’ll figure it out," he continued. "I don’t know what you are, how you managed to die before, or why that place showed me what it did. But I’m going to find out. However I have to."

"Good luck with that."

Caleb shook his head. Then he turned and walked away.

Amelia watched him go, her expression growing thoughtful as he moved farther across the meadow. She knew she had made the right decision. Whatever Caleb had seen in that fortress, she couldn’t afford to let him dig into her past before she understood it herself.

Still, the knowledge that he had witnessed her death unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.

She pressed her lips together, took a steadying breath, and headed back toward the others.

Enzo noticed her almost immediately. His eyes followed her as she approached, and the moment she was close enough, he stepped toward her.

"What did you two talk about?"

Amelia glanced in the direction Caleb had gone, then back at Enzo.

"The talk is heavy."

Reid’s brows rose. "Heavy enough that he walked away looking like he wanted to punch a wall?"

Before she could say anything, a low growl rumbled through the air.

Everyone paused.

Another growl followed, louder this time. Amelia slowly turned her head toward the brothers.

Reid looked down at his stomach as though it had personally betrayed him. Dean’s gaze drifted away, while Enzo cleared his throat with an expression of exaggerated dignity that did absolutely nothing to disguise the sound coming from his own stomach.

"There’s a river not far from here," she said. "We can wash up, find some fruit, and eat. I’m already so done with those dry snacks we brought."

"Finally," Reid declared.

"You’ll survive if you go another hour without eating."

"Why would I want to survive like that when fruit exists?"

Dean shook his head, but the faint curve of his mouth gave him away.

Enzo, meanwhile, continued watching Amelia. He hadn’t missed the way her expression had changed when she returned, nor the way she’d avoided saying anything about her conversation with Caleb.

He wanted to ask again. He wanted to know what had happened between them and why Caleb had looked so disturbed when they returned.

But Amelia had already made it clear that she wasn’t ready to talk.

For now, he would respect that.

Whatever had happened, Amelia would tell them when she was ready. Pressing her now would only make her withdraw further.

"Lead the way," Enzo said.

Amelia nodded and turned toward the white wolf.

***

The river stretched wide through the green landscape, its clear water flowing over smooth stones beneath the warm afternoon sunlight. Bright reflections danced across the surface, and soft grass covered the banks, dotted with small wildflowers that swayed whenever the breeze passed through. The air smelled fresh and clean, carrying the earthy scent of wet stone and the fragrance of blossoms growing along the water’s edge.

Amelia slid down from the white wolf’s back. She took a moment to stretch her legs while behind her, the brothers climbed down as well from their divine beasts. The moment their feet touched the ground, their divine beasts began to shimmer.

Amelia turned to watch as each of the beasts massive body contracted to their normal size.

She walked closer to the water and drew in a slow breath, allowing the cool, fragrant air to fill her lungs. The peaceful surroundings should have helped her relax, but her thoughts kept circling back to Caleb’s vision.

They were being considerate.

She had noticed it on the way back. The brothers were curious about what had happened between her and Caleb, yet none of them had cornered her with questions.

That only made the situation harder.

How am I supposed to tell them?

She couldn’t exactly tell them that Caleb had seen her body disintegrating while they knelt around her, helpless to stop it. She couldn’t even begin to explain what that might mean when she didn’t understand it herself.

She needed answers. Real answers, not guesses.

Her mind drifted back to the dream they had shared, the one that had given them a glimpse of who she had been before she became who she was now

The first of her past lives.

There was so much more she didn’t know. She needed to see the rest of it. If Caleb’s vision had revealed something about her future, perhaps her past held the key to understanding it.

I need to know more. And the only way to know more.... is with them.