Romance

  Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  Finally, the injury had fully healed. I could feel the strength surging back into my muscles—no longer that useless wreck who worried about tearing open his wounds with a brisk walk. All those days confined to bed, one thought kept circling in my head: I had to get Brett&#39;s stolen body back.
  Not for redemption—hell, I knew some things could never be made right. This was for Celena. I could feel it, that incident festering like a poisoned thorn in her heart, wedged between us. Unless I yanked it out, she&#39;d never truly look at me without seeing her dead brother staring back.
  I drew a deep breath and went to find her. She was sitting on the yard swing, rocking gently back and forth. Sunlight spilled over her hair, casting a golden halo around her. God, she was stunning.
  &quot;Hey, Celena,&quot; I said as I walked over, my throat tight and dry.
  She 

  Celena&#39;s Perspective
  This was utterly bizarre. What the hell was Jacob playing at? He came to me this morning, clammed up like a locked vault, and now he&#39;s vanished into thin air.
  Lily found me and handed me a folded note, her brow furrowed so deeply it looked like it could trap flies. &quot;Found this at your door,&quot; she said, her tone grim. &quot;Haven&#39;t opened it.&quot;
  Then I learned that Jacob, that idiot, had hastily sent a vague farewell to everyone through the pack link! At first, no one thought much of it—seriously, a cooped-up wolf blowing off steam after recovering from an injury is perfectly normal, right?
  But then the patrol team returned with somber faces, reporting they&#39;d seen him charge straight past the territory boundary, and... he&#39;d unilaterally shut down the link! It was like he&#39;d sealed himself inside an impenetrable iron box.
  

  Celena&#39;s POV
  It seemed&nbsp;that everyone had&nbsp;been acting a bit strange recently. It appeared&nbsp;that they all cared&nbsp;about me very much. &nbsp;Even little Aurora would come running over from time to time, mysteriously sharing her snacks with me. &nbsp;Oh my God, I really didn&#39;t know how to get along with children! &nbsp;I couldn&#39;t share with her my childhood experiences of getting my skin pierced by a syringe or being beaten up, could&nbsp;I? &nbsp;
  So I always politely thanked her and then rummaged through some snacks that I had hidden and which she found novel to share back. &nbsp;
  But we got to know each other better and better. Eventually, I could naturally take the cookies from her chubby hand on my own initiative. &nbsp;She had&nbsp;become a good friend with whom I can share my emotions. &nbsp;For instance, if I felt&nbsp;a bit bored today, she would

Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  Finally, the injury had fully healed. I could feel the strength surging back into my muscles—no longer that useless wreck who worried about tearing open his wounds with a brisk walk. All those days confined to bed, one thought kept circling in my head: I had to get Brett&#39;s stolen body back.
  Not for redemption—hell, I knew some things could never be made right. This was for Celena. I could feel it, that incident festering like a poisoned thorn in her heart, wedged between us. Unless I yanked it out, she&#39;d never truly look at me without seeing her dead brother staring back.
  I drew a deep breath and went to find her. She was sitting on the yard swing, rocking gently back and forth. Sunlight spilled over her hair, casting a golden halo around her. God, she was stunning.
  &quot;Hey, Celena,&quot; I said as I walked over, my throat tight and dry.
  She lifted her head, her brown eyes meeting mine with little emotion. &quot;Yeah?&quot;
  I opened m

Chapter 216