But the thing that scared me more was the way sitting beside him felt right in a way it shouldn’t.
I stared at the ceiling.
“What the hell are you doing, Lachlan,” I whispered.
No answer came.
Just Kellan, breathing soft against my pillow, already tangled in the center of everything.
And me, sitting there like gravity had shifted around him.
Waiting for morning.
Waiting for the fallout.
Waiting for him to open his eyes and change everything again.
5
KELLAN
I woke up slowly,the way you did after dreaming too hard, but I felt super rested, warm, and my limbs were reluctant to move. For a full second I didn’t know where I was. It kind of hit me slowly at first the ceiling above me wasn’t mine. Neither were the sheets. Or the faint smell of smoke and cedar and something darker, sharper and undeniably alpha, that thick scent of pheromones my body recognized before my brain did.
Then my heart kicked against my ribs.
Right. I’d been taken. Kidnapped. I was in the Crimson Havoc compound.
In Lock’s room.
In Lock’s bed.
My stomach flipped.
I shifted slowly, testing myself. My head felt clearer than before, no spinning, no gray creeping at the edges of my vision…but my body was still… warm. Too aware. Like my nerves were stretched tight under my skin.
The blanket moved when I did. Heavy. Familiar now in a way that made my chest do something stupid.
I pushed myself up on my elbows.
The chair by the bed was occupied.
Lock sat there like he’d been carved out of the shadows. Elbows on his knees, hands loose, head tipped back against the wall. His eyes were closed, his jaw relaxed in a way I hadn’t seen yet. No anger. No edge. Just… still.
For a second, I watched him.
He looked different asleep…or resting. Younger, maybe. Or just less like a storm.
I swallowed.
He must’ve felt it. Or smelled it. Or maybe he’d never really fallen asleep at all, because his eyes opened immediately, sharp and blue and focused straight on me.
“You awake,” he said quietly.
It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah,” I said. My voice came out rough. “I think so.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t rush me. Just studied my face like he was checking for cracks.
