9. Three Different Norths #3
I should have been alarmed. Instead, I felt a strange comfort in the words. In the implication that the Voss family dealt with threats. That they had the capability and the will to protect what was theirs.
"That's ominous," I said, trying for lightness.
"It's accurate." But he softened, the fierce edge receding behind his usual thoughtful composure. "Serena. You're not alone in this. Whatever happens with this person from your past, you have people here who will help you. Not because we expect anything in return. Just because..."
He trailed off, and I watched him struggle with something. Something he wanted to say but couldn't, or wouldn't, or wasn't ready to. His jaw tightened. His hands, resting on his knees, curled slightly.
"Just because?" I prompted.
"Just because you're worth protecting," he said finally, the words coming out carefully, precisely, like he was measuring each one. "That should be obvious. I'm surprised you need to be told."
My throat tightened. "I keep trying to remind myself that I deserve protection, care, basic human consideration. But after three years of being told the opposite..."
"Then you've been surrounded by the wrong people." He held my gaze, and behind his glasses, his eyes were fierce with a conviction that took my breath away. They'd gone silver again, bright in the fading light. "That changes now."
We sat in silence after that, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was the kind of silence that happens between people who don't need words to communicate, who can simply exist in each other's presence and feel understood.
The stars came out, one by one, appearing against the darkening sky like holes punched in velvet.
The preserve went fully dark, the trees becoming black shapes against the deeper black of night.
Somewhere in the main house, I could hear Jasper's laugh and the low rumble of Callum's voice, their sounds carrying through the evening air.
"I should go," Eli said eventually. "You need sleep. Real sleep, not the anxious kind."
"Is there a non-anxious kind? I've forgotten."
He didn't laugh at the half-joke. His expression remained serious. "There is. It involves feeling safe. And knowing that nothing can get to you while you rest."
"That sounds nice. Theoretical, but nice."
He stood, brushing off his pants. When he looked down at me, something in his expression made my heart stutter. An intensity that went beyond his usual focused attention. A decision being made behind those silver-gray eyes.
"It doesn't have to be theoretical," he said. "You're safe here, Serena." He tilted his head, considering. "The property is protected. More protected than you know. Nothing gets past the boundaries that we don't allow." His voice dropped slightly. "Trust me."
The way he said boundaries made me think of the strange symbols on the fences. The wrought iron around the preserve, inscribed with sigils. The way certain areas of town were marked, claimed, warded by things I didn't understand.
"I'm trying," I said.
"That's enough." He started toward the stairs, then paused. "Mom said to tell you she's making gumbo tomorrow. If you want to come early and learn the recipe, she'd like the company."
"Rowena wants to teach me to cook?"
"She wants to spend time with you." A small smile. "Cooking is just an excuse. She's decided you belong here. When Mom decides something, arguing is pointless."
He left a few minutes later, disappearing into the main house with that quiet, deliberate grace that all three brothers shared.
I sat on my porch until the moon rose, watching it silver the magnolia tree, thinking about belonging. About the way Rowena had said I fit. About Lila's warning that once you were in with the Voss family, there was no halfway.
About Eli saying I was worth protecting like it was obvious, like it was fact, like anyone who thought otherwise was simply wrong.
This family. These brothers. Different ways of making me feel seen, protected, and understood.
I didn't know what was happening to me. I didn't know why I felt pulled toward all of them, why the thought of choosing just one felt impossible, why being near them made everything inside me quiet down and pay attention.
The howling started around midnight, rising from the preserve in those familiar coordinated waves. Three voices, weaving together in the darkness. I listened until the sound faded, until the preserve went quiet again.
Then I went inside and checked the locks. Not out of fear this time. Out of habit, and something else. A sense that things were shifting, that the ground beneath my feet was about to change in ways I couldn't predict.
I was almost asleep when I heard it.
A knock at my door. Soft. Deliberate. Three times.
My heart stopped. Then started again, too fast.
"Serena." Callum's voice, low and rough, coming through the wood. "We need to talk. All of us. Tonight."
I lay in the dark, listening to him breathe on the other side of the door, and I knew that whatever came next would change everything.
The question was whether I was ready for it.