I ran a palm up her back, resting it between her shoulder blades. “Lacey.”
Her eyes lifted to mine.
“I like your real name. I think it suits you.”
A flush rose on her cheeks.
“Pretty things come bound in lace,” I murmured near her ear. “It’s delicate. But strong.”
She gave a small, disbelieving scoff.
I leaned in and nuzzled her neck. “And you? You’re one beautiful package.”
She didn’t say a word, just sniffled as silent tears fell.
For a long while, she lay there—curled in my lap, her head tucked under my jaw—breathing slow and steady like she hadn’t just bared her entire soul. Like she hadn’t just handed me the softest, purest part of herself and let me hold it without flinching.
I kept my arm snug around her waist while I traced slow, careful circles between her shoulder blades. My fingers moved, trying to soothe the pain I hadn’t earned the right to touch. And still—she let me. She trusted me. Trustedme.
Fuck.
The silence felt sacred, and for once, I didn’t want to fill it.
I just wanted to hold her.
I tilted my head slightly and let my lips rest against her temple. She smelled faintly of lavender and soap. Fresh. Innocent. Uncomplicated.
Lacey Grace Oakley.
Goddamn sunshine in human form.
Born of mountain wind and starlit skies. Raised in the open, where neighbors looked out for each other, and honesty wasn’t a tactic but a way of life.
And she’d made it through hell with all of that still intact.
No sharp edges. No fake smile. No schemes.
She wasn’t trying to manipulate me or get anything out of this moment.
She wasn’t asking for protection or power.
She was just…here.
In my world, women learned early how to lie with their eyes. How to dress up ambition and survival in lingerie and lust. They became shape-shifters and illusionists. They showed just enough softness to bait the trap.
But not Lacey.
She didn’t come wrapped in secrets or strategy.
She came wrapped in light.
And I was the darkness.
She was everything that shouldn’t survive in my world—and yet, here she was. Fragile but unbroken. Grieving but unashamed.
Lamb to my wolf.
Sunshine to my shadows.
