Chapter 67: Fracturing
Thorne
I hated the way my brothers looked at me like I was some kind of monster. Like I was the villain in our story. Their gazes were a mixture of frustration and judgment, as if they couldn’t fathom why I didn’t see Josie the same way they did.
But I did see her. I saw everything. That was the problem.
What I said about her wasn’t cruelty—it was the truth. Josie was weak. Emotionally fragile. Always waiting to be rescued instead of saving herself. Anyone in their right mind would understand that. I wasn’t being heartless. I was being honest.
"You’re being impossible, Thorne," Kiel snapped, the irritation in his voice crackling like lightning. His shoulders were tense, and his jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle twitching. "The way you’re acting... it’s exhausting."
I turned to him sharply, my temper already simmering beneath the surface. My fists curled tight at my sides, and my voice came out low and hard. "Don’t act like you love her more than I do, Kiel. You think I don’t care? That I don’t feel anything for her?"
Kiel didn’t flinch. He held my gaze with fire in his eyes. "You’re possessive of her, I’ll give you that. But love? No. You don’t show it. You don’t even try. You act like she’s beneath you, like her feelings are just inconveniences for your ego."
My pulse hammered in my ears. My breath caught with fury I could barely contain. "Because she is beneath me," I spat. "She’s not strong. She’s soft. She folds the second life gets too loud."
His eyes darkened, and for a second, I thought he might punch me. "You don’t know her. Not really. You only see what you want to see—what fits the narrative in your damn head. But Josie’s not weak. She’s trying, every single damn day."
"She doesn’t push back!" I shouted. "She never has! She always waits for someone to swoop in and fix her mess."
"And that makes her unworthy of compassion?" Kiel barked. "Gods, Thorne, do you even hear yourself?"
"Enough," Varen’s voice cut through the rising storm, his tone a firm wall between us. He stepped forward, positioning himself between me and Kiel like a damn referee.