It’s just us now. No masks. Nothing beyond the two of us wrapped in these sheets.
And that’s enough.
I brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “I want to stay with you tonight.”
Her reply is instant. “I dare you to try to leave.”
That’s all it takes.
She’s not only mine when the world goes dark. She’s mine in the quiet and the calm. When no one’s looking and she lets her guard down.
She falls asleep curled into me, one hand tucked under her cheek, the other resting over my heart. I hold her close, every breath syncing with hers.
Tonight, I’m not the monster. I’m the shield.
And as long as darkness prowls outside, I’ll stand between it and her.
Because she deserves more than safety.
She deserves my protection.
Chapter 26
Laurette Devereux
Last night,My Wolf breathed stillness into my chaos. He held it for me, and I let him.
Evening settles in, welcome after a long day I was glad to see end. But peace doesn’t come easy—not with case files spread across my coffee table, pages flagged, and notes half-scribbled.
The wine I poured sits untouched. A highlighter rests in my hand, paused mid-stroke, the sentence beneath it already lost to distraction.
Bastien slips into my thoughts. Will he text? Will he come to me tonight?
It’s greedy to hope for two nights in a row. He probably has other things to do. I still glance at my phone, just in case.
Then—one sharp ring of the doorbell, and I go still.
Bastien comes to mind first, but I dismiss the thought. Showing up and ringing the bell without a word—making himself visible—is not his m.o.
I tap into the camera feed, and it’s my father at the door. No call, text, or heads-up. Just him, showing up as though a visit is usual.
It isn’t.
He never comes unannounced.
Hell, he never comes to my house at all.
I open the door, caught between confusion and caution. “Dad? This is unexpected.”
“Hello, Laurette.” There’s something off in the way he looks at me and says my name. This isn’t a simple social call.
“Is everything okay?”
“No, not by a long shot.”
He steps inside, and unease tightens in my chest.
We move to the living room in silence, and he walks with rigid posture. I follow, my stomach tightening with every step.
