Chapter 7 Continued

Ava looks away, the vulnerability in her posture more telling than any memory she's lost. "I wish I knew," she whispers. "But I can't piece it all together. It's all just gone."

Gone. The word echoes, a hollow sound in the chamber of my chest.

I lean in close, every muscle tensed, every instinct screaming to protect, to reclaim what's been stolen from us. "I'm going to find out, Ava," I promise the words a vow etched in stone. "And I'll make them pay for every second they've taken from you."

She meets my eyes again, and for a fleeting moment, I catch a spark of something familiar, a flicker of the bond that refuses to die. It gives me hope but also fuels my anger.

"Who's Billy?" The words tumble out, edged with the growl I'm fighting to suppress. Ava fidgets with the hem of her shirt, a gesture so achingly familiar it tightens something in my chest.

"He is...was… someone I met," she murmurs, her voice a shadow of its former strength. "I thought he was nice at first, but he got weird. Possessive."

My hands clench involuntarily, the image of that scumbag trying to lay his hands on her igniting a fury deep within me. My jaw sets hard as I try to keep the beast at bay. The mate bond, that sacred connection, the haze clouding her thoughts.

Ava continues, unaware of the storm brewing inside me. "I called it off. I just felt it wasn’t right. A voice inside of me was screaming that it wasn’t right." 

"Anything else about him?" I probe, my mind racing as pieces start slotting into place.

"Just that he..." Her brow furrows, searching for a memory that seems just out of reach. "He always wanted to talk about me, do what I wanted to do. It was just weird. Guys just don’t do that."

Handler. The words flash neon in my head, and suddenly, it all finally clicks. 

"We need to leave, Ava," I say, urgency sharpening my tone. "We're not safe here. Billy wasn't just a creep. He was watching you, reporting on you. They've been keeping tabs because of me."

"Because of you?" Confusion flickers across her face, but there's no time to explain.

"Yes, and we need to leave. Now," I insist, reaching for her hand, ready to pull her away from the danger neither of us can ignore.

“I don’t understand,” Ava says.

“You will, because you can trust me,” I turn and tell her. 

“Why should I trust you?” Ava stands firm. 

“Because, before all this shit, it was just us, Ava,” I tell her, and hope that she believes.