6. James/ Rafael
James/ Rafael
JAMES
I checked the locks again.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
I stood in the hallway, barefoot in plaid pajama pants and a threadbare T-shirt, staring at the deadbolt like it might spring open if I blinked. My wolf paced inside me, restless and uneasy.
I knew I was being paranoid. But tonight, that wasn’t enough to stop me.
I checked the peephole. Nothing. Quiet hallway. Faint hum of an old fridge down the hall. Still, I twisted the knob of each lock, tugged on the door to make sure it wouldn’t budge.
Then I did it all over again.
It wasn’t just the goon Avery sent that left me rattled. It was the way Rafael had looked when he stepped between us. Like he’d been one second away from tearing the guy’s throat out.
Like protecting me wasn’t even a question.
It had done something to me. Shaken something loose. Warmed parts of me I thought had gone cold. But also reminded me that Avery wouldn’t stop.
And now that Rafael was involved? Things were going to get messy.
Business first. I opened my banking app and sent Avery what I owed him for the month. My thumb hovered over the “confirm” button longer than it should have.
Like pausing would somehow make it hurt less, but it didn’t.
Once the transfer went through, a cold heaviness settled in my gut. I stared at the confirmation screen until it blurred.
Then I sighed and padded into the kitchen barefoot, the linoleum cool under my feet.
My apartment was small, just one room with a narrow galley kitchen and a window that looked out onto the parking lot.
Cozy on good days. Claustrophobic on nights like this. Sleep wasn’t happening. Not with my thoughts racing like this.
I opened a cabinet, yanked out a mixing bowl, and grabbed the first ingredients I saw. Flour, sugar, eggs, butter. I'd grabbed them from Wolf & Whisk earlier that week, just in case.
Cupcakes. Maybe baking would help.
It always used to. Joel used to tease me that I only baked when I was stressed. That if I ever stopped baking, he’d know I’d finally snapped. And now look where we were.
I measured the flour and dumped it into the bowl, working on muscle memory. I cracked the eggs, added sugar, but my brain was far away. On Rafael.
The kiss had rocked me. Not just because it was hot, but because of how real it felt. There was something grounding in the way Rafael touched me, like he wasn’t just responding to lust.
Like he saw me, chose me, even knowing I was a walking disaster. But that couldn’t last, could it? What would happen when he realized just how deep my mess went?
Avery knew I was terrified of Callum finding out. That’s what made the bastard so smug. It gave him power.
Callum had given me everything. A job, a home, a family. I’d walked into Sugarpaw Springs two years ago, broke and grieving and full of secrets.
Callum never once asked for anything in return except honesty and loyalty. And I’d failed him on both counts.
I stirred the batter too hard and flour poofed up, coating the front of my shirt. I swore under my breath. I wasn’t stupid. Avery hadn’t just followed me to Sugarpaw Springs by accident.
Sugarpaw Springs was under Callum and Beau’s protection. Not officially, not on paper, but in the way that mattered. The town didn’t belong to a single pack, but it might as well have.
Shifters like Avery didn’t usually come near. But rats always found a way through the cracks. And I’d been the perfect crack.
I turned on the oven, spooned the batter into cupcake tins, and shoved them in. Even as I closed the door, I already knew something was off. Too much flour? Not enough butter?
Didn’t matter. What mattered was that I couldn’t keep pretending everything was fine. I’d been holding out, hoping I could fix it myself.
Hoping I could keep this part of my life hidden and still keep the good things I’d found here. But sooner or later… Callum was going to find out.
What did I really fear? That was the part that kept me up the most.
I could picture it too clearly. Callum’s eyes going cold, the way they had once when an out-of-town shifter had gotten too handsy with me during a delivery run.
One minute, Callum had been calm. The next, the guy was pressed against a brick wall, Callum’s hand around his throat.
“I protect what’s mine,” he’d said quietly. And the guy had pissed himself.
I wasn’t sure what I was to Callum. A brother? A younger wolf he took in? Someone he tolerated? But if he found out I’d been lying to him… that I’d brought danger into Sugarpaw without a word?
Would he still protect me? Would he still want me in his pack?
I opened the oven and checked on the cupcakes. They’d sunk in the middle. Looked more like weird muffins than anything.
Great.
I shut the door with a little too much force and leaned against the counter.
Maybe I could talk to Rafael first. He wasn’t part of the pack. Maybe he’d have advice. Or just… listen. That alone would be enough. I trusted him, even if it scared me to admit it.
I scraped frosting into a piping bag, tried to salvage at least one of the sad cupcakes, but the whole thing looked like a toddler’s art project. I dropped the piping bag in the sink and gave up.
I was too wired. Too tired. Too everything.
Eventually, I washed my hands and trudged back to the bedroom corner of my apartment, flopping into bed with a groan.
My pillow smelled faintly like the lavender detergent I liked. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and stared at the ceiling.
Rafael’s voice echoed in my head. You shouldn’t have to deal with people like him alone. No one had ever said that to me before. Not like that. Not like they meant it.
It made something ache in my chest. I turned over and closed my eyes, but sleep didn’t come for hours. And when it finally did, I dreamed of Rafael.
Not the overprotective bear, but Rafael leaning down to kiss me, holding me like I was breakable and precious at once. His lips tasted like honey and cinnamon.
His voice, when he whispered my name, was soft and reverent.
I woke up with the taste of him still on my tongue.
* * *
RAFAEL
I didn’t remember the walk home.
My body had moved on autopilot, each step a blur. I got in, locked the door behind me, kicked off my boots, and dropped onto the edge of my bed like my legs had finally given out.
The apartment was dim, only the glow from the streetlamp outside painting soft orange stripes across the floor. My heart was still racing like I hadn’t left that hallway.
Like James was still in front of me, flushed and breathless, like I could still feel the way his lips molded to mine.
Hell. I dragged a hand over my face and leaned back, staring at the ceiling like it might have answers. That kiss…
It wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like that.
Not after everything James had been through that night. I should’ve said no, should’ve walked away, should’ve done anything but pin him to a wall with my mouth.
But it had felt good. Right. Dangerous, but right. And when his hips rolled up, grinding against me like he needed more. Like I was the only thing keeping him upright.
It took every ounce of self-control not to take it further. Not to tear the door off its hinges and claim every inch of him right there in the hall.
I’d wanted to. Dang, but I’d wanted to. But I was relieved he pulled away. Relieved he had enough sense for both of us. Still. A part of me hated that he hadn’t invited me in.
No. That wasn’t fair. He wasn’t in the right headspace. He’d just been threatened. Cornered like prey. No one should be making decisions after something like that.
But even so... I couldn't stop reliving the way his voice cracked when he asked me to stay. The way he kissed like he meant it. Like I meant something to him.
I grunted and stood, pacing toward the kitchen. I didn’t bother turning on the lights. My night vision was good enough, and the silence helped me think.
James had said he was fine. But he wasn’t. That wasn’t just some random thug hassling him about a bar tab. That shifter reeked of menace and organized trouble.
Someone sent him. I’ve heard whispers of a low-level predator who sometimes hung around downtown, and who thought himself untouchable.
Guys like that loved to loan money to desperate men and tear them apart when they couldn’t pay fast enough. I’d known plenty like that in Ironfalls.
In Ironfalls, I would’ve ripped his throat out. No questions. No warnings. And no one would’ve blinked, but this wasn’t Ironfalls.
This was Sugarpaw Springs, where shifters played nice and smiled across bakery counters and tried to build something better. And I wanted that too, I left Ironfalls with Beau for that.
So why had I nearly shifted tonight? Why had my bear surged to the surface the second he saw James in danger? My hands curled into fists, and I forced a slow exhale.
That reaction... that wasn’t just adrenaline. It was instinct. My bear knew something before I was ready to admit it. James mattered to him. To me.
I leaned against the counter, letting that truth sink in. I hadn’t meant for this to happen. I didn’t want it to happen.
James was infuriating. Flirty. Bright and bold in all the ways that reminded me too much of—
My phone buzzed. My head jerked toward it like I’d been electrocuted. I lunged for the device on the nightstand, screen lighting up with a name I hated.
Kellen.
I hesitated only a second before answering. Stupid. So dang stupid. But I answered.
“Finally,” came the syrupy voice, laced with fake pout and false fondness. “Raf, babe. Thought you blocked me.”
My stomach twisted. Why did I ever fall for that voice?
“What do you want?” I said, already exhausted.
“You sound tense. Bad day?”
“Cut to the chase, Kellen.”
He tsked. “No foreplay? Where’s the fun in that?”
I said nothing.
“I’ve been thinking about you,” he continued smoothly. “About us. Maybe we gave up too fast. Maybe I made a mistake—”
“You cheated on me,” I said flatly.
“Let’s not rehash ancient history.”
“It wasn’t the first time.”
He sighed, like I was the one being unreasonable. “You know I was scared, right? You were always so serious. So intense. I needed... something lighter. But that didn’t mean I didn’t love you.”
A pause. “I still do.”
My grip on the phone tightened. I could feel the rage simmering under my skin, that old familiar burn of betrayal mixing with disgust.
He was still the same. Still smooth-talking. Still charming in all the worst ways. Still incapable of taking responsibility.
Still pretending the problem was me.
“Kellen,” I said, voice low, cold. “If you ever call me again, I swear to every god that listens—I’ll show you what intense really looks like.”
His sharp inhale was audible. “Excuse me?”
I hung up. The silence after was deafening. Finally, I blocked his number. I stared down at the phone in my hand and felt... lighter. Just a bit. He was poison. And I finally, finally felt done.
He wasn’t James. God, why did I ever think they were alike?
Kellen flirted because he wanted something. Control, attention, admiration.
James flirted because it was part of his nature. But tonight, tonight there hadn’t been a trace of a game in him. Just vulnerability. Honesty. Hunger. Need. And he trusted me.
I rubbed a hand over my chest, trying to steady my breathing. My bear was still restless beneath my skin, prowling quietly now. Not angry, but aware.
Aware that something had changed tonight.
I didn’t know what this thing was between me and James. I didn’t know if it would end in disaster or if we could actually build something from the mess we both were.
But I wanted to try, even if it scared the hell out of me.
Eventually, I collapsed onto the bed, still fully clothed. The night pressed in close. Outside, the wind whistled softly through the trees.
Sleep didn’t come easy.
And when it did, it brought images of James. James smiling, laughing, lips parted in a soft gasp as I kissed him again and again. My arms around him. His voice in my ear.
You’re the only one who makes me feel safe.