Page 156 of Chasing Ruin
She’s already moving, her back to us. She doesn’t stop. Doesn’t speak. Doesn’t even spare him a glance. A blink and she’s gone. Disappearing into a hallway we didn’t come from.
I walk over to Wolf with careful, measured steps, hoping to pull him out of whatever stunned haze he’s trapped in.
The moment I stop in front of him, something in him snaps loose.
His gaze drops to mine—and everything inside him breaks open.
He pulls me into his arms, crushing me against him in a desperate, bone-deep embrace. “God, Charlotte,” he breathes, his voice thick with disbelief and something dangerously close to relief.
“Hey,” I croak, my arms coming up awkwardly around him.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his face crumpling as his hands cup my cheeks.
Relief. Fear. Rage.
All of it flickers across his face—until his gaze drops to my torn hoodie. Barely covering me. His expression darkens instantly.
Without a word, he shrugs his cut off and drapes it over my shoulders, the worn leather settling warm against my exposed skin.
His hands linger for half a second, like he’s grounding himself.
Then, his eyes flick past me toward the hallway where Leila disappeared.
I see it.
The pull. The war inside him.
“Go,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
His gaze snaps back to mine, startled.
“Go, Dane. You should go after her.”
He shakes his head immediately. “No, I’ll just—”
“Dane—”
“Wait,” he cuts in, voice dropping, frayed. “I’ll get… I’ll get Hound here.”
His fingers brush his earpiece, movements quick, almost frantic. “Hound,” he says under his breath. “I need you and Bulldog at the ER entrance. Now.”
A few seconds later, boots echo across the tiled floor. Not just Hound and Bulldog, Healer’s here too, along with a handful of prospects and men I assume belong to Mihai.
I look back at Wolf. He’s still standing there. Still… torn.
I nod toward the hallway again. “Go.”
His entire frame locks with hesitation. I can see it so clearly—the fracture inside him.
Brother.
Leader.
Lover.
All pulling him in different directions.
“I’ll be back,” he says quickly. “I just—”
