Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Shay
I wasn’t brave.
Not really.
I could pretend to be. I could crack jokes and keep my chin high and talk back to men who looked like they started bar fights for cardio. But inside? I was a vibrating string, stretched tight and ready to snap.
Prime said I didn’t have to be tough.
But he sure acted like he expected me to hold myself together while standing in the shadow of something much bigger and darker than I understood.
After our moment outside, Prime walked me back inside and down the hallway.
He didn’t touch me.
He didn’t have to.
His presence was like a second heartbeat keeping time with mine.
He pointed to my door. “Inside.”
“Bossy,” I muttered.
He raised an eyebrow. “You want me to carry you?”
I opened the door and stepped inside without another word.
He smirked. “Thought so.”
He pulled the door shut behind me but stayed right outside, the same way he always did. I didn’t need to check. I could feel him there.
It was weird how fast I’d gotten used to that.
Prime.
Right outside.
Always within reach.
I sat on the bed, pulled the blanket around me, and tried to relax. I almost did, until I heard something.
I froze.
It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t violent. It wasn’t dramatic.
It was a… tap.
At the window.
A soft, deliberate tap.
Then another.
And another.
My heart slammed into my ribs so hard I might’ve rattled the bed frame. I clutched the blanket like it was body armor. I held my breath.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
It wasn’t wind.
It wasn’t rain.
It was something intentional.
My voice scraped out of my throat, small and panicked. “Prime?”
The door flew open so fast it bounced off the wall. Prime stormed inside, hand already at the knife on his hip, eyes snapping straight to the window.
“What?” he demanded. “What happened?”
I pointed with a shaking hand. “There was… something. Someone. At the window. Tapping.”
He didn’t question it. He didn’t tell me I imagined it. He just moved.
Fast.
He pulled the curtain back. Nothing.
The window glass reflected the dim hallway light.
But Prime wasn’t satisfied.
He unlocked the window, slid it open silently, and stuck his head outside, scanning the trees.
“Stay behind me,” he said, voice low and deadly.
I was already pressed against his back before he finished the sentence.
He stepped closer to the window, leaned out further, muscles tense.
“Do you see anything?” I whispered.
“No,” he said. “But there’s mud on the sill.”
My blood went cold.
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone was close enough to touch the glass.” His tone went grim. “And close enough you were supposed to hear it.”
“Oh my god,” I whispered.
Prime shut the window with a soft click and locked it. Then he turned and cupped my face with both hands before I could spiral.
“Look at me,” he said.
I looked.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did he try to open the window?”
“No.”
Prime exhaled through his nose. “Then he wanted to scare you. That’s it.”
“That’s it?” I squeaked. “That’s NOT comforting.”
“It’s better than the alternative.”
I swallowed. “Prime… he was right there.”
“Yeah.” His thumb brushed my cheekbone. “And he’s never getting that close again.”
The conviction in his voice was so absolute it shut down every terrified thought banging around in my skull.
I grabbed his forearm. “What do we do?”
“You stay with me,” he said immediately. “You breathe. You let the club sweep the perimeter. And you don’t let this rattle you.”
I huffed. “Too late.”
He leaned down a little, closing the space between us. “You’re shaking.”
I was.
Hard.
He slid a hand around my waist and guided me to sit back on the bed. “I gotta get Anchor.”
“No,” I whispered, gripping his wrist before he could move. “Don’t leave yet. Just… just give me one more minute.”
Something flickered in his eyes. Something raw. Something protective enough to burn.
“One minute,” he agreed, voice softer than I’d ever heard it. He pulled out his phone and sent off a quick text to who I assumed was Anchor.
He sat on the edge of the bed, back straight, alert, but close enough I could feel warmth radiating off him.
I tried to breathe slow. That failed. The shaking wouldn’t stop.
Prime watched me, jaw tight. “You’re terrified.”
“Yep.”
“You’re doing good.”
“How is this good?” I asked shakily.
“You didn’t hide,” he said. “You called my name.”
I blinked. “That’s the part you’re proud of?”
His voice roughened. “Yes.”
He caught my trembling hand and held it firmly until my breathing evened out. The shaking slowed. Not disappeared, but eased.
“You’re safe,” he said again, lower, almost a growl. “I’m right here.”
I nodded, finally releasing his wrist.
Anchor, Piney, Cross, and Push appeared in my doorway.
“What the fuck is going on?” Anchor demanded.
Prime glanced at me. “I’m fine. Go talk to them,” I said.
“Door stays open,” he promised. “You see me the whole time.”
“Okay.”
“But you don’t move from this bed. Understood?”
I nodded, and he moved to the four men crowding my doorway.
Their voices were low as Prime gave them the rundown of what had happened the last five minutes.
Piney, Cross, and Push peeled off within thirty seconds. Anchor stayed and talked with Prime.
For ten minutes, Prime stayed in the doorway. Close. Piney came back a few minutes later, talked, and then he left again.
Anchor’s phone rang, and I heard snippets of his replies on the phone. “The whole island.” “Lock it down.” “Even the cliffs.”
When he finally returned, he shut the door and exhaled. “Tracks outside your window that lead into the woods. It was deliberate.”
“Deliberate how?” I asked, barely breathing. “He could have killed me, but he didn’t. He was not even ten feet away from me, Prime,” I wheezed.
“He wanted you alert,” Prime said. “He wants you scared.”
“Well, congratulations to him, I guess. Mission accomplished.”
“Shay.” Prime crouched in front of me with his hands braced on either side of my knees. “Listen to me. Fear doesn’t mean weakness. It means survival. You did the right thing.”
I didn’t answer.
He touched my knee gently. “Look at me.”
I did.
“This isn’t your fault,” he said. “You didn’t put yourself on that file. You didn’t ask for any of this. Whoever this guy is?” His voice dipped lower. Darker. “He made a mistake coming this close to you.”
Something in me cracked.
Not pain.
Not panic.
Something else.
Something warm.
“Prime,” I whispered, “what if I can’t handle this?”
“You can.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you haven’t fallen apart yet.”
“I feel like I want to.”
“I know.” He squeezed my knee. “But you won’t.”
I swallowed the ache in my throat. “You sound sure.”
“I am.”
He stood then, slow and deliberate, like he didn’t want to spook me.
“You’re staying in my sight no matter what,” he said. “No doors between us. Nothing. I’m not leaving you alone in a room he walked up to.” His voice dropped. “I’m not giving him a second chance.”
Even scared, even shaken, something fluttered inside me.
“You’re being very protective.”
He snorted. “I’ve been protective since the day I saw your picture.”
“Good protective or… suffocating protective?”
He gave me a look. “You’ll know the difference if I ever cross the line.”
I slipped into the bathroom while Prime stayed in the room, his heavy footsteps circling once… twice… the way a guard dog checks the perimeter. My hands shook a little as I washed my face under the bathroom light buzzing faintly.
I cracked the door open and peeked out. Prime was across the room, clicking the lock on the window and then pressing his palm to the glass, checking the latch.
Protective. On edge. And very much here.
I stepped out, wearing one of my three T-shirts I had. “All done.”
“Good.” He nodded, already moving for the doorway. “I’ll grab the chair. Keep it right next—”
“No.” I climbed into the bed before he could disappear and tugged the covers up around me. “You’re sleeping in here tonight.” I paused. “In my bed.”
He froze in the doorway, hand on the knob, back going rigid. Slowly, he turned. “You’re sure? I can sleep on the couch.”
“Yes.” I patted the mattress next to me. “You said no doors between us. So you might as well be comfortable. The couch is only good for five minutes before a spring springs you in the butt.”
Prime stared like he wasn’t convinced this was real. Then he blew out a breath, shut the door, and crossed the room. When he slipped into the bed beside me, the mattress dipped under his weight.
Almost without thinking, I scooted across the small gap and tucked myself into his side. The contact hit me like warmth after being out in the cold too long. His arm hesitated for half a second… then wrapped around me, firm and careful to hold me in place.
My eyes stung.
It had been terrifying earlier, but lying here, tucked into the man who had slammed himself between me and danger without a second thought, was what I needed.
Prime would do anything to keep me safe.
Anything.
His steady breathing rumbled against my cheek, deep and grounding. I let my eyes fall shut.
And this time, when sleep pulled me under, I didn’t fight it. I let myself drift in the safety of his arms.