I jammed the key into the lock.
One click. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Yeah, five locks was overkill. It always had been. But right then, I wished I had six. My brother Joel used to say you could never be too careful.
Joel…
I stepped inside, bolted the locks behind me, and tossed the envelope on the coffee table like it had burned my hand. My stomach turned, appetite gone. So much for pizza.
I sat on the couch, staring at the envelope like it might bite. I didn’t open it. Not yet. I already knew who it was from. I could feel it in my bones.
Joel had been everything to me growing up. After our parents died, he raised me.
Taught me how to drive, how to cook eggs without setting off the smoke alarm, how to throw a punch and when not to. I loved him. I idolized him.
I hated him too.
Because Joel had also been reckless. Selfish, sometimes. He kept secrets. Took on debts he couldn’t pay, gambled more than he should have, always chasing the next big win.
He borrowed money from the wrong people and thought he could outrun the consequences.
He didn’t.
He died two years ago. Car crash. At least, that’s what they told me.
And he left me with a hundred-thousand-dollar debt.
The loan shark, Avery, had been surprisingly polite about it. He said I could pay it off in monthly installments. Generous, right?
Except Avery kept raising the interest rate. Every year. Every time I made a dent, the hole deepened.
I picked up the envelope. My hands trembled. I didn’t need to open it to know it’d be another reminder that I’d never catch up. That Joel’s mistakes had become mine.
Rafael wouldn’t take this crap, I thought suddenly, bitterly.
He wouldn’t keep his head down and pretend everything was fine. He’d storm into Avery’s office and make sure the guy never so much as looked at his name again.
But I wasn’t Rafael. I wasn’t even close. I couldn’t tell Callum. Or Rowan. Or Cyrus. I couldn’t tell anyone at Wolf and Whisk.
They thought I was just James. Playful, sometimes annoying, always ready with a pun and a stupid grin.
They’d done so much for me. Callum gave me a home when I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t drag them into this mess. They didn’t deserve it.
I stared at the letter a moment longer, then finally opened it.
Same neat handwriting. Same sterile politeness. An updated balance. New interest rate. A reminder of the terms. And, at the bottom, a note.
We know where to find you.
My chest tightened. The room felt too small and quiet.
I stood and went to the kitchen. Turned on the sink. Let the water run over my hands until they went numb.
Then I forced myself back to the couch, shoved the letter in a drawer, and tried to focus on the drama playing on the TV screen.
But I couldn’t concentrate. Not when my wolf was pacing. Not when Rafael’s face kept drifting into my mind.
I closed my eyes, exhaled slowly, and whispered, “I’m fine.”
