24. Sina
I startled awake with a sharp inhale as thunder cracked overhead, so close it felt like it split the ceiling open. The windows rattled in their frames, rain hammering relentlessly against the glass, and my heart pounded hard enough it took me a second to remember how to breathe.
For a disoriented moment I just lay there, pulse racing in time with the storm, staring at the ceiling while the world outside roared and shook.
The air around me was warm, the bed comfortable and for a second, I almost fell back asleep.
But then my sluggish brain caught up with the fact that I was in an unfamiliar room and that realization sent adrenaline skittering under my skin.
This wasn’t my apartment.
I turned my head slowly, taking in the dark shapes of furniture, the broad dresser, the heavy dark curtains, the framed painting on the far wall—an angular cityscape in deep blues and blacks. Memory slid into place in pieces. The hallway. Rafe sat beside me on the floor….
Oh God.
I fell asleep on him.
Heat crept up my neck as I pushed myself upright, my hair a mess around my face.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed, blinking hard, trying to shake off the fog.
I hadn’t slept properly in days, weeks, if I was being honest with myself.
Nightmares, panic, my brain refusing to power down unless it was absolute exhaustion dragging me under.
I must’ve just… shut off . Completely. Dead weight in his arms.
How humiliating.
A loud crack split the air and I yelped, heart slamming all over again before the rolling boom of thunder followed.
Right . The storm. I dragged a hand through my hair, grounding myself in the present.
The room was dim, shadows thick, but beyond the edges of the curtains the world flickered with distant lightning .
How long had I been out?
I stood, my bare feet sinking into soft carpet.
Where were my shoes? Did Rafe take my shoes off? Why would he do that? To make me more comfortable maybe?
I shook my head with a scoff. No, he probably just didn’t want my dirty sneakers on his bed. That’s normal. Basic manners.
But sleeping in his bed didn’t feel basic. It felt like the same energy Nik had when he cooked, like he cared whether I ate or not even if he never said it out loud. I shivered at the memory of him holding that dinner roll to my lips.
But that wasn’t the only time these men had taken care of me. Each of them had, in their own way.
Rafe had lowered himself to the hallway floor beside me without hesitation, just to sit with me when I wasn't ready to face the guys yet.
Kiron had tried to do something nice with those flowers, even if it all went sideways, and guilt over that whole mess settled heavy in my chest.
And Harlow…
There was something in the way he always watched me that made me feel guarded, like I didn’t have to keep my back to the wall quite so hard.
His protectiveness didn’t look like Rafe’s steadiness or Nik’s control.
It was sharper, coiled tight under his skin, like he was always one breath away from violence.
Though… never aimed at me. I didn’t know what to do with men who tried to keep me from falling apart.
Another flash of lightning lit the room stark white for a second, shadows jumping, followed by a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through the floor.
I moved toward the window almost without thinking, drawn by the restless energy outside.
The carpet muffled my steps as I slipped between the curtains and looked out .
The storm was in full force over the island.
Wind tore through the trees, bending them nearly sideways, rain slashing across the yard in silver sheets.
Beyond the stretch of open grass, the treeline heaved and shuddered like something alive.
Well it looked like I was stuck here until morning. Butterflies danced in my stomach.
Movement on the treeline caught my eye. I stilled, squinting into the dark. At first I thought it was a trick of lighting and shadow, but then the shape slipped free of the trees and into the clearing, solid and unmistakable.
A dog? Too big.
Its fur was completely black, its coat swallowing the light, its body massive in a way that made my brain struggle to comprehend. A wolf? A huge all-black wolf.
“What the hell?” My breath fogged faintly against the glass.
We didn’t have wolves in Ash Harbor. At least, I’d never heard of any. But this was the island. Private land. Dense woods. Maybe wildlife out here was different.
Still, he was enormous. Bigger than any wolf I’d seen. Bigger than he should’ve been. I felt like I wasn't supposed to see him. Like watching him was… wrong?
Lightning split the sky again, turning the world white for a heartbeat, and in that flash I saw him clearly, head held high and alert, ears forward, standing in the center of the clearing like he was listening.
I held my breath like he might hear me. My fear tangled low and tight in my stomach. I should've been backing away from the window. Should’ve gone to get Nik. He'd probably want to know so he could scare the animal off his property.
But I couldn’t look away. It was like I was transfixed by his beauty. Then his head lifted higher. And turned. Right toward the house. Right toward the window. My breath caught so hard it hurt .
My fingers curled into the curtain.
“There’s no way you can see me.”
He tilted his head like he heard me.
A shiver rippled down my spine, raising goosebumps along my arms. I should have moved away from the window but I couldn't. Something passed through me in that moment, sharp and electric, like a live wire brushing bare skin. A pull towards him I didn’t understand.
He didn’t bare his teeth. Didn’t even move closer. He just stood there in the storm, rain soaking his fur, eyes locked on me. Then he tilted his head back and howled. It was haunting, almost sad. I gasped, letting the curtain close.
The sound went through me. Not just into my ears, through my ribs, my spine, my lungs, like the note threaded itself between my bones and pulled tight.
It wasn’t the wild, chaotic cry I expected.
It was long and low and aching, the kind of sound that made your chest hurt before your brain could tell you why.
My hand flew to my mouth, breath stuttering behind my fingers as the curtain slipped from my other hand and fell shut. The room plunged back into dim shadows, but the echo of that howl lingered, vibrating in the air .
“Oh my God,” I whispered, stumbling back a step from the window like distance could make it less real.
My heart was racing again, but not the same way it had when I woke up. This felt… different. Charged . Like something had reached through the glass and touched me without ever crossing the distance.
It was just an animal, I told myself. A wild animal on an island with woods. That was all. Storms made animals act weird. Maybe it got separated from a pack. Maybe it was—
No.
That hadn’t sounded like a call to other wolves .
It sounded like a call to me.
It was well into the night, and I was restless.
I had no idea what time it was. My phone was still in my jacket pocket downstairs somewhere.
I paced back and forth across Rafe’s room, arms wrapped around myself.
I was disappointed he never came back. I seriously needed to pee, and my throat was so dry from the wine it felt like I’d swallowed sand.
Stop being a pussy and go get a drink.
“Fuck it.”
Decision made.
I cracked the door open and peered into the dark hallway, listening for any sounds in the house. But the storm was so loud it was hard to hear anything besides the wind rattling the windows and the low growl of thunder rolling in the distance.
On tiptoes, I rushed across the hall to the bathroom, my heart lodged somewhere in my throat. I wasn’t even sure why I was so jumpy. Maybe it was the wolf. Maybe the storm. Maybe the fact that I was alone in a big-ass three-story house that wasn’t mine.
I slipped inside and shut the door behind me, releasing a shaky breath as the lock clicked into place.
I took care of business quickly and washed my hands.
I dried them on the towel and glanced at myself in the mirror.
My hair was a mess. I raked my fingers through it, but it was no use.
I needed a brush. I rummaged through the drawers in search of one.
Rafe had long hair. He had to have one somewhere.
Finally, I found one and worked it through my rat’s nest of tangles, wincing when it snagged.
“Okay, enough stalling. "
I set the brush down, then froze with my hand on the bathroom doorknob.
Shit.
I didn’t have my knife on me.
My gaze flicked to the counter like it might magically appear there.
It wasn’t. I’d left it tucked into my jeans, the pair crumpled on the bedroom floor.
When I’d gotten up in the middle of the night I'd traded in my clothes for one of Rafe’s shirts.
For a second, I seriously considered going back for it.
The hallway outside was dark, the storm loud enough to cover footsteps, and my nerves were already buzzing under my skin.
I stood there debating it longer than I wanted to admit.
Then I huffed out a quiet laugh at myself.
“Jesus, Sina. Get a grip.”
I wasn’t being hunted. I wasn’t in danger. I was just keyed up because of the unfamiliar house at night in a storm. That didn’t mean every shadow was a threat.
I turned off the light and opened the door.
The dark hallway swallowed me again, the storm rumbling through the walls.
Okay. Kitchen. Water. Then back to bed.