60

ASTRID

I was not sure how to feel when Justin told me he wanted to come with me. It was meant to be a simple request for permission to leave the pack to find a witch, I had known he’d say he wanted to come along but now it seemed like everything was about to spiral out of control. His insistence on coming along with me only complicated things further.

How was I supposed to find a way to leave if he was right there with me?

I stared blankly at his moving lips, barely hearing what he was saying. My mind was racing. I could not let him accompany me. He might have been sincere with his offer, but I didn’t want to risk another emotional entanglement or worse, being blamed if something went wrong.

Justin was so adamant about keeping me safe. I understood that he was trying to protect me, and I knew that deep down he cared. But I didn’t want to be the cause of him getting hurt or worse, getting myself imprisoned again because he got hurt for my sake. I wanted to avoid that possibility altog