“No,” I say. “I’m not doing this. I’m not sitting here while you explain werewolves like they’re a municipal service.”
“Ellie—”
“Nope.” I stand and pace to the far wall. “You don’t get to ‘Ellie’ me. Not after this.”
I’m not afraid. That’s the thing that surprises me most.
I’m furious.
“Every conversation we’ve had,” I say, turning back to him, “every question you deflected, every warning you gave me—you were managing me. Curating what I could see. What I could know. What I could choose. You didn’t just lie. You engineered my blind spots.”
“Ellie—”
“Stop.” I raise a hand. “You don’t get to interrupt this part. You need to hear it.”
He nods once. Good.
“You knew exactly how I’d interpret your warnings,” I continue. “You knew I’d second-guess myself. That I’d wonder if I was paranoid or dramatic or projecting. And you let me.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“By stripping me of context,” I shoot back. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
He hesitates.
“Answer the question.”
“Yes,” he says quietly.
I exhale, sharp and controlled. “That’s what I needed. Not reassurance. Not spin. Just honesty.”
I cross my arms. “Do you know how many times in my life people have decided they know what I can handle better than I do?”
He doesn’t answer.
“Too many,” I say. “And every single time, I paid the price for someone else’s comfort.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?” I snap. “The truth? My own judgment? The radical idea that I might be capable of handling reality without your intervention?”
He doesn’t interrupt again.
Good.
“I’m not staying here as a liability managed by omission,” I tell him. “No more careful edits. No more deciding what danger I’m allowed to understand. I’m not asking permission. I’m stating terms.”
The weight of it settles. I see it register—not as anger or fear.
Relief.
“I can’t promise you safety,” he says finally.
I nod. I already know that.
“I never could,” he adds. “Not for you. Not for anyone.”
“What I can promise,” he continues, “is that I won’t withhold information from you again. Not to control you. Not to steer you. Not because I think I know better.”