Page 124 of Juniper Unraveling

“Wren.”

I’ve heard it a half dozen times already, and still, the sound of it coming from his lips sends a thrill down my spine. “Earlier, you said you weren’t the boy I thought you were back then. I wasn’t the girl you thought I was, either.” Lying against his chest, I trace a jagged scar over his heart. “My birth name is Dani, named after my father. I don’t go by it anymore, though. Dani is long gone.”

“What happened to her?”

“Legion killed my mother and sister, and I was sent to that place. Just like you.”

The confusion on his face urges me to continue.

“My mother shaved my head, disguising me as a boy. Papa—not my real father—he helped me escape. He brought me to the other side of the wall. Reinvented my identity by giving me a new name, a chance at life.” Propping myself up on my elbow, I lean forward and kiss the scar I’ve been tracing. “I saw things no child should ever see. Experienced the most horrible things.” The bronze of his skin blurs with my stare, while my mind transports me back to those hallways, and the horrific cries of pain still echoing through my memories. “So many horrible things.”

He grips the back of my nape, leveling his stare, but like the old Six, he doesn’t say a word.

“I hear the voices, too, sometimes. Screaming inside my head. I locked them away for a very long time. Papa called them repressed memories.”

“You’re lucky to have forgotten. Even for a short while. I can’t get rid of them.”

“You found your brother, though.”

He nods, rubbing the back of my neck. “Tripp. And my father. He died two years back.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say, trailing a finger down the deep groove etched by his pectorals. “Papa died, too. Rager bit him, and … he gave up.” I exhale a sigh and rest my chin against his chest. “How did you end up at Calico?”

“When Legion arrived to our hive, my father, Tripp, and I were out scavenging. Everything had been destroyed. Burned. We found the body of my mother and sister, but my youngest brother, Brenin, was missing. Figuring they’d taken him, we decided to track them and located the hospital. I volunteered to hand myself over. To get inside. I never found Brenin, though. They kept me locked in that place for three years. Until you found me.” The weight of his unwavering stare crushes me. “I’d be dead, if not for you.”

“And as I recall, I’d be dead if not for you.” Eyes trained on his lips, I study the scar there and lean in to kiss him. The one at his eye captures my attention, and I run my finger gently across his eyelid, which shutters closed beneath my touch. “What’s this one?”

“The night at the Juniper Tree, we were ambushed by the rebels, who turned out to be my brother and father. They never gave up on me. Fought to get inside Calico. Anyway, Tripp didn’t recognize me at first. Thought I was with those soldiers. Almost killed me.”

“What a horrible reminder.” I run the pad of my thumb over the puffy edges of the scar. “It must be hard to see it every day and know that he could’ve killed you.”

“I was so happy to see him, I didn’t even care. Best and worst day of my life.” With a downward gaze, his eyebrows pinch together, as if he’s reliving the moment inside his head. “Worst, mostly.”

Hiking myself up onto my elbow, I cup his cheek and kiss him. “For me, too.”

He strokes a finger across my face, tucking my hair behind my ear, and his lip lifts to that roguish Six smile I once loved.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Day I saw you on the other side of that wall, I knew I’d do anything to have you. Anything.”

What must be a girlish smile plasters on my face, drawing his eyes to my mouth. Hand to my nape, he drags me into him, crushing me against his lips with a kiss.

At a noise, I lift my head and see a Rager off in the distance, moving erratically, kicking around in the dirt. He doesn’t come near us, like an invisible wall exists between him and us. On my own, lying naked, even at this distance, it would leave me feeling vulnerable and nervous, but with Rhys, I feel none of that. His very presence blankets me in calm. “Does Tripp carry the alpha gene like you?”

He glances over at the Rager and back, tucking his arms beneath his head. “No. We’re not brothers by blood. His dad found me stumbling around an abandoned building when I was five years old. Couldn’t believe I wasn’t bitten. He and Alyson took me in, raised me as one of their own. I’ve known Tripp and Brenin as my brothers since the day they were born. Abi, too.”

“Your sister?” At his nod, I catch the flicker of sorrow in his eyes.

One small detail still nags the back of my mind, and I frown. “How did the rebels know to come to the Juniper tree? How did they know to ambush Legion there?”

“Tripp says they were tipped off by someone on the other side of the wall. Been trying to get in touch with him ever since, but he flipped off the grid. Can’t get the same frequency on the two-way.”

“Two-way?” Back in Papa’s office, I stumbled upon a walkie-talkie—one I hadn’t seen before. “I’m betting Papa’s the one who tipped the rebels off.”

“Maybe. Tripp stole the walkie-talkies from Legion soldiers. They were military-issued, so I suppose it’s possible.”

“Papa never wanted to hurt you. He just wanted to keep me safe.”