Chapter 31: Wren
Kael’s apartment feelsimpossibly warm the second we step inside—low lighting, soft shadows, the faint scent of coffee in the air.My body doesn’t know what to do with the quiet.It’s too much.Too safe.Too unfamiliar.
I hover near the entryway, coat half-off, breath stuck somewhere too high in my chest.Finn gently closes the door behind us, like he’s afraid a loud sound will make me bolt.
Kael steps past me and turns on a single lamp, warm gold pooling across the living room.“You can take the bed,” he says, voice calm but soft enough I hear the effort behind it.“We’ll stay close.”
My stomach flips.Not fear.Something else.
Atlas glances down the hallway.“Which door?”
“Left,” Kael says.
Finn looks at me.“You ready?”
No.Yes.I don’t know.
I nod anyway.
Finn guides me first.Not touching—just walking near enough that I feel the warmth of him at my back.Kael leads, slow enough that I don’t trip over my own nerves.Atlas brings up the rear like a wall that learned how to breathe.
Kael pushes open the bedroom door and steps aside so I can enter first.
The room is neat.Clean lines.Dark gray bedding.One soft lamp.Zero clutter.It smells like him—sharp, clean, a hint of something earthy that makes my pulse slip all over the place.
“You can change if you want.”Kael opens a drawer and pulls out a folded black t-shirt.“This should fit.”
Fit is a generous word.It’ll hang on me like a dress.
My cheeks warm.“Thank you.”
He sets it at the foot of the bed and steps back, but his eyes stay on me, steady and unreadable.“Do you need anything before you sleep?”
I want to say no.I want to be low-maintenance, easy, simple.
But my throat tightens instead.
“I...don’t want the door closed.”
Kael nods immediately.“It stays open.”
Finn adds, “And we’re staying.”
Atlas just stands there, arms crossed, jaw tight, and says, “No one’s leaving you.”
My chest stutters.
I take the shirt and slip into the bathroom to change.My fingers shake so hard I almost drop it twice.When I pull it on, the fabric falls to mid-thigh, soft and warm, smelling like Kael’s laundry soap.
