The Wolf at the Window
I don’t know how long I stayed curled on the bed, knees pulled tight to my chest, crying until my eyes burned dry and my throat felt scraped raw.
The room was dark now, night had fallen without me noticing.
The only light came from the faint glow of the campus lamps outside the window, casting long, cold shadows across the floor.
I could leave.
The thought kept circling like a vulture.
Pack my things tonight. Climb the fence behind the South Wing. Hitch a ride or walk until I found a bus station. Go home.
But home wasn’t safe either.
Home was Father’s indifferent silence. Ronan’s cold shoulder. Calder’s complete erasure of my existence. The pack that called me runt, defective, human pet. The same people who’d let me be bullied for years because “she has no wolf, she’s not worth protecting.”
At least here… they taught me things.
The classes were brutal, but good.
I was learning.
I was surviving.
And the only real horror was this thing called the Purge.
I didn’t want to be anyone’s bitch.
I didn’t want to take a life trying to defend myself.
I didn’t want to wake up bleeding and broken and pregnant with a child I couldn’t keep.
But running?
Running meant giving up.
Meant admitting those people that laughed at me had already won.
I pressed my forehead to my knees and tried to breathe.
A soft knock.
Not on the door.
On the window.
Behind me.
My head snapped up.
Through the glass, illuminated by the faint lamplight outside, stood Saint.
Massive. Silent. Ice-blue eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
My heart slammed into my ribs.
Before I could scream or scramble away, he reached up, long arms easily spanning the frame and slid the window open like it wasn’t locked at all.
He stepped inside.
Graceful, predatory, barefoot on the dorm floor.
I scrambled backward on the bed, back hitting the frame of Lily’s bed with a thud. My eyes were wide, breath shallow.
He didn’t speak at first.
Just watched me.
Then he lifted one huge hand and brushed his fingertips across my cheek, gentle.
“You’re crying,” he said, voice deep and rough from disuse. “Why?”
I swallowed. “N..nothing.”
His brow furrowed, like the word hurt him.
“My wolf wants to meet his mate,” he said simply.
The word hit me like a punch.
Mate.
I stared at him. “Mate?”
He nodded once.
Then without warning he shifted.
Fur rippled over skin in a smooth, silent wave. Bones cracked softly. In seconds, the massive black wolf stood where the man had been.
Bear-sized. Terrifying. Beautiful.
Red eyes glowed softly in the dim room.
He padded forward slowly, lowering his head so I wouldn’t feel threatened.
I should have screamed.
I should have run.
Instead, my hand lifted, trembling and sank into the thick fur at his neck.
He rumbled, a deep, contented sound that vibrated through my palm.
I let out a shaky laugh.
“You’re… huge.”
He huffed, almost offended, and nudged my chest with his nose.
Then he flopped down onto his side right beside the bed, belly exposed, tail thumping lazily against the floor.
I blinked.
“Are you… rolling over?” I asked.
He looked up at me, and I knew that to anyone else it might look like a snarl but to me, it looked like a smile.
I sat on the edge of the bed, knees drawn up, watching the massive black wolf sprawl beside me like he belonged there.
He didn’t speak.
I reached out again, fingers sinking deeper into his fur. It was softer than it looked, thick and warm, like burying my hands in midnight snow.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” I whispered, voice cracking a little. “You’re one of them. One of the Triumvirate. You’re supposed to be terrifying.”
He huffed softly, nudging my knee with his giant head until I unfolded my legs. Then he rested his chin on my thigh, red eyes half-lidded, watching me.
I laughed. “You’re not acting very scary right now.”
He let out a low, rumbling sound that felt almost like agreement.
I stared at the ceiling for a long minute, the words spilling out before I could stop them.
“Everything’s falling apart,” I said quietly.
“Lily just told me about the Purge. About how… how they open the campus and let anyone take whoever they want. How she’s been… hurt. Over and over. And now she’s pregnant and doesn’t even know who the father is. She’s going to get rid of it before anyone finds out.”
My throat tightened.
“I came here thinking I could learn. Make something of myself. Prove to my family I wasn’t just the runt who killed her mother. But now… I don’t know if I can survive this place.”
The wolf, Saint made a soft, distressed whine. His ears flattened. He lifted his head and licked once, gently, along my forearm. Not sexual. Just comfort.
I buried my face in his fur for a second, breathing him in, snow and pine and something wild that made my chest ache in a good way.
Then the air shifted.
Fur receded. Bones shifted with that soft, silent crack.
When I looked up, Saint was human again.
Naked.
Completely, shamelessly naked.
And very, very hard.
My eyes widened. Heat rushed to my face.
He didn’t seem to care.
He knelt in front of me, cupped my cheeks with both huge hands, thumbs brushing away the last of my tears.
“No one will dare touch you,” he said, voice low and rough. “I will rip them apart.”
He smiled when he said it, bright, almost sweet, like promising murder was the most normal thing in the world.
I laughed despite myself, shaky and surprised. “You say that like it’s easy.”
“It is,” he said simply.
I swallowed, suddenly hyper-aware of how close he was, how warm his palms were, how his erection bobbed between us, thick and flushed.
“D-don’t I have to… sleep with you guys?” I asked, voice small.
He tilted his head. “Not with me. Not yet. My Alphas… I don’t know. They want you. Badly.”
My breath caught.
“Your Alphas?”
He nodded, proud. “Yes. Kane and Rhys. They are my Alphas. Rhys is the head of our pack.”
I blinked, stunned. “Rhys is… the head?”
Saint smiled wider. “Yes. He leads. Kane fights. I will protect.”
He leaned closer, nose brushing mine. “They will not force themselves on you. But they are very attracted to you.”
My cheeks burned. “And… you?”
His gaze dropped to his own cock, hard, leaking, flushed dark and back to me. “I am very attracted to our mate too.”
I choked on a laugh. “Why do you call me mate?”
He frowned, confused. “Because you are our mate.”
I stared at him. “I… don’t understand.”
He looked genuinely puzzled. “Don’t you feel the bond?”
I opened my mouth. I closed it.
“I… feel something,” I admitted quietly. “I feel attached to you three. More than I should. But I don’t know how mate bonds work. I’m not… full Omega. No wolf. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel the same.”
Saint’s frown deepened. He cupped my face again, thumbs stroking my cheeks.
“You will feel it,” he said with absolute certainty. “Soon. When your heat comes. When we claim you.”
My heart stuttered.
“When we…?”
He nodded, eyes soft. “Yes. You are ours. And we are yours.”
He pressed his forehead to mine.
“And I will protect you,” he whispered. “Always.”
I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of him, of his promise sink in.
For the first time since arriving at Silvercrest…
I almost stupidly believed it might be true.