Then Wolf wrapped his arm around Jade, pulling her and Jane into him.
Jade paused a moment, then something inside her gave way.She leaned in, let herself be held.That encouraged Wolf to hug them fully, and it felt like he was building a barrier between them and everything else.
Jade pressed her face briefly against his chest, inhaling the familiar scent of him.Wolf smelled of soap, leather, and something darker underneath, and her breathing finally began to slow.
“You don’t have to be afraid anymore,” Wolf said quietly, his voice low against her hair.
The words settled into her, deeper than she expected.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t come near you again,” he continued.“Near either of you.”
Jade’s fingers tightened slightly in his shirt.She normally didn’t trust promises easily.Derek made plenty and certainly broke all of them, but Wolf was different.She had a feeling once the MC caught hold of Derek, they wouldn’t show him any mercy, but it didn’t matter.
Derek had thrown her and Jane to the wolves without a second thought.Good riddance to him, Jade thought with vehemence.
“I’ll take good care of you both,” Wolf added.
That made her pull back, enough to look up at him.Her heart kicked hard in her chest, something fragile and uncertain rising up with it.
“Are you serious?”she asked, searching his eyes.
Wolf didn’t look away.He merely nodded. “I’m serious.”
The answer came without pause, or doubt.Jade studied him, trying to find the hesitation.The crack.The place where this might fall apart like everything else in her life had.
“I mean it,” he added, his gaze steady on hers.“I was serious the moment I met you.”
That caught her off guard.
Her brows knit slightly.“The moment you showed up at my door?”
“When I saw you,” he corrected.“You didn’t back down.You should’ve.Anyone else would’ve.”
Jade let out a quiet breath, remembering that night.The fear she’d buried.The way she’d forced herself to stand her ground because she hadn’t had any other choice.
“I didn’t have the luxury,” she murmured.
Wolf tightened his jaw.“I know.”
He brushed his fingers along her arm, careful of where Derek had grabbed her, like he already knew it would bruise.
“That’s not how it’s going to be anymore,” he said.“Derek’s soon going to be caught, and once that happens, you don’t owe us anything anymore.”
Jade’s chest tightened.The words settled somewhere deep.Hope flared in her chest.Jane shifted between them, letting out a small, sleepy sound, her hand pressing lightly against Wolf’s chest like she’d found something steady there.
Jade glanced down, then back up at him.
“You can’t just decide that,” she said softly.
“I can decide what I do,” he said.“And I’m not walking away from this.Jade, I know we haven’t known each other long, but I know there’s something special between us.Give us a chance.Let’s start all over again.”
Jade let out a slow breath.Jane made another soft sound, shifting against her.Jade glanced down, pressing a gentle kiss to her daughter’s hair.Then she looked back up at Wolf.
Everything had just changed, she could feel it.The line they’d been walking, they’d crossed it, and there was no going back.Jade exhaled slowly.
“Okay,” she said.
****
