Chapter Ten
Wolf ended the call without another word, then turned fully toward her, his expression softening.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
The question was simple, but the weight behind it wasn’t. Jade realized her hands were still trembling slightly where they held Jane. Her daughter had quieted to soft hiccups against her shoulder, tiny fingers fisted in Jade’s shirt like she was anchoring herself.
“I...” Jade swallowed, forcing her voice steady. “Yeah. We’re okay.”
She wasn’t sure if that was entirely true.
Her pulse was still racing. Her arm still throbbed faintly where Derek had grabbed her. The echo of his voice, his anger, his entitlement, lingered in the air. Still, Jane was safe and Derek was gone.
“That’s what matters,” Jade added more firmly, like she was convincing herself as much as him.
Wolf studied her for a second longer, his gaze flicking over her face, then to Jane, like he was checking for anything she might not have said.
Then he closed the distance between them, slowly and carefully. It was as if he didn’t want to startle her.
Jade didn’t move. When he reached them, he raised his hand. Wolf hesitated just for a fraction of a second before settling gently at the back of Jane’s head, his touch unexpectedly soft as he brushed his thumb lightly against her hair.
Jane sniffled, then stilled, her tiny body relaxing just a little.
Then Wolf wrapped his arm around Jade, pulling her and Jane into him.
Jade paused a moment, then something inside her gave way. She leaned in, let herself be held. That encouraged Wolf to hug them fully, and it felt like he was building a barrier between them and everything else.
Jade pressed her face briefly against his chest, inhaling the familiar scent of him. Wolf smelled of soap, leather, and something darker underneath, and her breathing finally began to slow.
“You don’t have to be afraid anymore,” Wolf said quietly, his voice low against her hair.
The words settled into her, deeper than she expected.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t come near you again,” he continued. “Near either of you.”
Jade’s fingers tightened slightly in his shirt. She normally didn’t trust promises easily. Derek made plenty and certainly broke all of them, but Wolf was different. She had a feeling once the MC caught hold of Derek, they wouldn’t show him any mercy, but it didn’t matter.
Derek had thrown her and Jane to the wolves without a second thought. Good riddance to him, Jade thought with vehemence.
“I’ll take good care of you both,” Wolf added.
That made her pull back, enough to look up at him. Her heart kicked hard in her chest, something fragile and uncertain rising up with it.
“Are you serious?” she asked, searching his eyes.
Wolf didn’t look away. He merely nodded. “I’m serious.”
The answer came without pause, or doubt. Jade studied him, trying to find the hesitation. The crack. The place where this might fall apart like everything else in her life had.
“I mean it,” he added, his gaze steady on hers. “I was serious the moment I met you.”
That caught her off guard.
Her brows knit slightly. “The moment you showed up at my door?”
“When I saw you,” he corrected. “You didn’t back down. You should’ve. Anyone else would’ve.”
Jade let out a quiet breath, remembering that night. The fear she’d buried. The way she’d forced herself to stand her ground because she hadn’t had any other choice.
“I didn’t have the luxury,” she murmured.
Wolf tightened his jaw. “I know.”
He brushed his fingers along her arm, careful of where Derek had grabbed her, like he already knew it would bruise.
“That’s not how it’s going to be anymore,” he said. “Derek’s soon going to be caught, and once that happens, you don’t owe us anything anymore.”
Jade’s chest tightened. The words settled somewhere deep. Hope flared in her chest. Jane shifted between them, letting out a small, sleepy sound, her hand pressing lightly against Wolf’s chest like she’d found something steady there.
Jade glanced down, then back up at him.
“You can’t just decide that,” she said softly.
“I can decide what I do,” he said. “And I’m not walking away from this. Jade, I know we haven’t known each other long, but I know there’s something special between us. Give us a chance. Let’s start all over again.”
Jade let out a slow breath. Jane made another soft sound, shifting against her. Jade glanced down, pressing a gentle kiss to her daughter’s hair. Then she looked back up at Wolf.
Everything had just changed, she could feel it. The line they’d been walking, they’d crossed it, and there was no going back. Jade exhaled slowly.
“Okay,” she said.
****
Six Months Later
Jade knew something was up the moment Wolf didn’t take the usual turn.
She sat in the passenger seat of his new mini-van, Jane strapped safely in the back, humming to herself around a toy she’d been chewing on for the past five minutes. The late afternoon sun stretched long across the road, warm and golden, but Jade barely noticed it.
Her attention was on her man. Wolf rested his hand casually on the wheel, but he didn’t seem entirely relaxed.
From the way his hand rested casually on the wheel—but not entirely relaxed.
From the way he hadn’t said much since picking them up.
From the way they’d passed her street.
“You missed it,” Jade said, glancing out the window as the familiar turn to her apartment building disappeared behind them.
“I know.” That was all he said.
Jade frowned slightly. “Wolf, what’s this about?” she asked.
“You’ll see.”
That was it, no further explanation. That was just like him. Jade leaned back in her seat slowly, her curiosity sharpening into something else. Nerves, but the good sort. Had Wolf planned some kind of cute surprise?
She twisted slightly, checking on Jane. Her daughter looked perfectly content, kicking her legs and babbling to herself, completely unbothered by whatever mysterious detour they were on.
Jade envied that a little.
“Give me clue to where we’re going?” she asked again, softer this time.
Wolf glanced at her briefly, then back at the road. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
The streets changed, and the buildings shifted from worn and tired to something newer, cleaner. The kind of place Jade usually only passed through, not somewhere she imagined stopping.
Wolf slowed the van, then turned into a quiet complex. Jade’s stomach flipped.
“Wolf?” she pressed again, but he parked the van and cut the engine. Wolf unbuckled his seatbelt, then turned toward her fully.
“Come on,” he said.
He led her and Jane to the building. It was nice and new, the kind of place where the paint wasn’t peeling and the windows didn’t rattle when the wind picked up.
Jade adjusted Jane on her hip as they walked up the steps, her heart beating faster with every step.
“We visiting a friend of yours?” she asked, glancing at him.
“Trust me,” he told her.
All right then. Jade decided to ask her questions later. Wolf stopped in front of an apartment unit, somehow having a key to it. He pushed the door open, and let Jade and Jane enter first.
The apartment was bigger than anything she’d lived in before. The living room opened up into a small but bright kitchen, sunlight spilling through wide windows that actually let light in instead of filtering it through thin, tired curtains.
The floors were clean. The walls freshly painted. There was a couch already set up, a small table. Nothing overdone, but enough to feel like a place someone could actually live. Jade finally understood.
“Wolf, did you get this for us?” Jade asked, a little teary-eyed.
“Go look,” Wolf said quietly behind her.
Jade moved before she could think too hard about it.
The first door contained the main bedroom. It had a comfortable king-sized bed, a dresser, and opened to a bathroom. The second door was a smaller room, painted in pink pastels. There was a crib already set up in the corner, and a soft blanket folded neatly inside. A few small toys on a low shelf.
Jade’s breath caught. Her vision blurred almost instantly. “Oh,” she whispered.
Jane made a small, curious sound in her arms, like she could feel the shift. Jade stepped inside the room slowly, like she was afraid she’d wake up and it would be gone.
“This is...” her voice broke. “Wolf, this is too much.”
She turned back toward him, tears still sliding down her cheeks, emotion rising too fast to hold back. He leaned against the doorframe, watching her.
“It’s not. You and Jane deserve a safe place to live,” he told her.
“This is really for us?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“That’s right.”
Jade swallowed hard. Her emotions tangled, gratitude, disbelief, something deeper she was almost afraid to name. Jane reached out suddenly, grabbing at Wolf’s shirt.
He didn’t hesitate, he simply took her, kissed the top of her head. As Jade watched them, something inside her settled. This wasn’t temporary anymore. Honestly, it hadn’t been for a while. Wolf and she had been an item for half a year now.
Wolf shifted Jane onto one arm, then reached into his pocket with the other. Jade frowned slightly, confused ... until he pulled something out. A simple gold band. Jade’s breath caught.
“There’s this too,” Wolf said. “I’m not good at this part, but I know what I want and that’s a life with you and Jane. Be mine. For real. Be my old lady.”
The words hung in the air, and Jade started crying in joy again. She laughed softly through it, shaking her head just a little.
“You really don’t do things halfway, do you?” she murmured.
“I guess not,” he told her.
Jade thought of everything he’d done for her, everything he was offering to her and Jane now. There was no hesitation on her part.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll be your old lady.”
Something in Wolf’s expression shifted. He slid the ring gently onto her finger, his fingers lingering for a second longer than necessary. Then he cupped her cheek, kissed her passionately.
Jane made a happy little noise between them, and Jade laughed softly against his mouth.
“I love you, Jade,” he told her.
“Love you back,” she told him automatically.
The End