Tali didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she’d woken up to movement. Cole was sitting up on the couch, quietly putting on his boots.

“What are you doing?” Tali asked suddenly, eyes snapping open.

Cole couldn’t mask the guilty expression on his face. “It’s after nine. He’s still not back. I know you have faith in him but...the only thing I have faith in right now is the fact that Caid needs to die before he can hurt anyone else. I’m done sitting here, ignoring that.”

“Cole, don’t be stupid,” she muttered. “You heard what Sheena said. He wants to destroy you—”

“Yeah, I know. I’m counting on that. If he’s got all this hate brewing inside him, he’ll be ready for a fight. He’s not as strong as he thinks he is. He’s got people at his back, and an ability to manipulate and intimidate, but when it comes down to it, he’s not that strong. I can take him. Or come close enough that I might be able to weaken him. Give him a chance. Sheena told me about those other two, the Betas that follow them. They’re brutes, but they’re weak-minded. If I can take him out, the rest of the clan has a chance.”

“No!” Tali screamed, seizing him by the arm. “Don’t you dare, Cole. Don’t you dare do this. I swear, if you go charging off to die again, I’ll never forgive you. You can’t do this to me again. Please, just wait. Wait for Hudson. He’ll come back. I know he will, and the two of you can plan something together. Something smart. Something that gives you a chance. Do you really think someone that conniving is going to face you one-on-one, Cole? Don’t be a fool.”

But he was already moving toward the door, ignoring her pull on his arms. Koda barked happily, jumping on them, thinking it was a game, but Tali shoved the dog off.

“Tali,” he said, pausing, turning to cup her face in his hands. “Listen to me. This thing has been hanging over me like a shadow for ten years. As bad as Sterling was, Caid was worse. I was just a kid when they cast me out, but it tore me apart not getting to stay there and fight for what I knew was right. To know that I was leaving the rest of my people at their mercy. When Hudson wouldn’t help, I went numb. Spent too much time drinking. Tried to forget it. But it’s real, and it’s never going away. Even when I’m at my happiest—when I’m with you—it’s all twisted up by this thing that’s never out of my mind. I love you, Tali, and I want this thing to be over. I want to be able to fully be with you, present, in the moment, with all that I am. I want to be someone worthy of your love.”

“You already are, you idiot!” she cried, seizing him by arm and turning him around to face her. “Cole, you are brave. A stupid amount of brave. But charging off to die isn’t brave. It’s stupid. And if you do this, we’re never going to be together and happy. You’ll be gone, and I can’t take that. Please. It feels like just yesterday that I lost Matty. I can’t lose another person. I can’t lose you.”

“I’m sorry, Tali. Sheena...she told me he already probably knows about you. Hell, he might even know about Ella. I’m not going to sit here and wait another minute knowing that he’s out there murdering and hurting people who don’t deserve it. I’m going. I’m sorry. I love you.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but gasped instead as he turned into a bear before her eyes. She heard Koda yelp and go charging up the stairs behind her.

“Cole! Don’t!” she yelled at the enormous bear standing in the hallway. His bulk knocked over an end table. A vase shattered to pieces and a flurry of junk mail fell to the ground after it. He charged out through the door frame, his massive size damaging it as he smashed through it and bounded off across the snow.

She charged after him. “Come back!” she screamed uselessly into the snow. He was already out of sight. She screamed it again. She screamed it until she was hoarse, and it only came out as a whisper.