Chapter 12 No Home Left, Nowhere Safe
Ysara POV
Lila stood frozen in the penthouse doorway, still staring at the four supernatural men like she was trying to decide whether to pinch herself or call an ambulance.
“Wow,” she breathed, and she put her hand on her chest. “You’re really in danger. Damn.”
Hearing it aloud, hearing my sister say it, hit harder than any prophecy, any chase, or any bite in the woods.
I swallowed. “Yeah. I guess I am.”
Wyatt moved before I could say anything else. He strode to a sleek black drawer built into the penthouse office wall, opened it, and returned with a thick, heavy wad of cash. A solid brick of bills, banded neatly.
“This is three hundred thousand dollars,” he said, and his voice was level but urgent.
Lila blinked like he’d just handed her a live grenade. “I....I can’t take....”
“You can,” Wyatt said firmly. “And you will. You need to take your father with you. Move near the hospital where your mom will be transferred. Rent a house under a different name, cash only. I’ll have a three-wolf security team on you both at all times.”
Lila’s breath stuttered. “Wait...wolves...security...what?”
“You will be protected,” he said. “No matter what.”
Her eyes filled. She clutched the money to her chest like she might shatter otherwise. I stepped forward, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her into a fierce hug.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “It’s all my fault. I dragged you into this. I...”
“Hey,” she whispered, hugging me back tightly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
I shook my head, and the tears started falling again. “Ask Dad, okay? Ask him why he never told me I was adopted.”
Her breath hitched. She nodded slowly. “I will. I promise. I love you, Ysa.”
“I love you more. The mostest.”
We held on a moment longer, then she pulled away, pressing a trembling kiss to my cheek.
“I’ll call when we’re safe,” she said.
The elevator swallowed her up, and the doors closed with a soft ding. And just like that, she was gone. The room felt different without her. It was quieter, heavier, and more real.
I wiped my face. “Okay,” I whispered, my voice raspy. “Where the hell do we go? Because clearly this penthouse is easy to find. If Lila can find me in two seconds, the Broker and the Exiled Alpha probably already have my address bookmarked.”
All four men stiffened. Even Darken’s expression tightened, a sure sign things were bad.
Wyatt sighed. “We can’t take you to our kingdom. Not with Alderic hunting you.”
Rafe nodded grimly. “My father would tear the territory apart to sniff you out.”
Kalesh shook his head, and his markings shimmered uneasily. “And my Court would try to force sovereignty on you. They’ll see a Ravelyn and lose all sense.”
Darken crossed his arms. “The Shadow Market is worse. The Broker’s reach extends into every corner. It is not a place for you yet.”
“So… no kingdom field trips,” I muttered. “Awesome.”
Darken straightened, and his eyes glowed faintly. “I own a private cabin. Remote. Three hours from Denver. Cliffside. Only one entry path. Hidden under a shell corporation. It’s extremely difficult to trace back to me.”
I stared at him. Then nodded.
“That sounds… perfect.”
His lips twitched. “I try.”
I clapped my hands. “Alright. But I need to grab my stuff. You four coming with me?”
Every single one nodded like obedient wolves.
I threw on one of Wyatt’s T-shirts, it was soft, warm, and smelles like golden sunlight and expensive cologne, and a pair of sweatpants rolled up so many times I looked like a gremlin.
The men froze. Wyatt groaned softly. Rafe ran a hand over his face.
Darken muttered, “Unfair.”
Kalesh whispered, “My heart-track is luminous.”
“Stop staring at me,” I grumbled, and my cheeks heated. “Let’s go before I combust from embarrassment.”
We piled into the twins’ SUV and headed toward my apartment. The tension was thick, Kalesh was watching the tree line, Rafe was scanning rooftops, Wyatt was gripping the wheel with white knuckles, Darken’s eyes were flickering and ember-red.
When we stepped from the parking lot toward my building, Kalesh halted abruptly.
“Something is wrong,” he said.
Darken moved beside him instantly. “I sense it too.”
Panic sliced through me. I took off running.
“Ysara...wait!” Wyatt shouted behind me.
The door to my apartment was cracked open. My stomach dropped.
“No no no no...”
I shoved inside and....Collapsed. Everything was destroyed. My couch had been ripped open. Cabinets were torn down. Clothes were shredded and thrown across the room. Furniture was overturned. Glass was shattered. Walls were slashed.
“Who...” My voice broke. “Who the fuck would do this?”
The men pushed in ahead of me, clearing room by room.
“Clear,” Rafe called.
“Clear,” Wyatt confirmed.
Kalesh knelt by the ruined couch, and his fingertips brushed the fabric. His markings glowed sharply. “Shadow Market scent. And demon energy. Likely spies of the Broker.”
Darken’s jaw clenched. “He found your trail.”
I stared numbly at the carnage. Then noticed something worse.
“…Where are my...my costumes?” I whispered.
And my panties. Gone. Of fucking course.
“Lovely,” I said. “Supernatural creepers collect my lingerie. Great. Totally normal, emotionally grounding experience.”
Wyatt immediately dialed someone. “I’ll handle this. Don’t worry.”
He transferred a sum large enough to make the landlord faint. Then he turned back, and his eyes were soft. “Grab what you need, little witch. We won’t let this happen again.”
My throat tightened.
I packed silently, what was left of my photos, clothes, chargers, and keepsakes, my laptop, and the little things that made my life still feel like mine.
I took one final look at the broken apartment and whispered, “Goodbye.”
We left. Back at the skyscraper’s base entrance, Kalesh and Darken stopped.
“I must retrieve my own belongings,” Kalesh said, his voice low.
“As must I,” Darken added.
Panic stabbed my chest. “You’re not...you’re not leaving me, right? I love you. I need you."
They stepped closer.
Kalesh cupped my face gently. “I have waited my entire life to hear my heart-track say those words. I shall return, my love.”
Darken grabbed my waist, pulling me flush against him in one firm motion. “I belong to you alone, my Ravelyn queen. No other woman holds a candle to you. I will come back.”
My heart squeezed so tight it hurt. I kissed them each, hard, desperate, and claiming.
“You better come back,” I whispered fiercely. “You’re not allowed to leave me now. Ever. You’re mine.”
Both men smiled like I’d blessed them with fate itself.
They vanished into the night. I exhaled shakily and turned toward Wyatt and Rafe.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go home. The temporary one.”
They flanked me instantly.
The elevator doors slid open into the penthouse with their usual soft chime, but something in the air was different the second I stepped in. Thicker. Hotter. Charged.
A wave of heat slammed into me so suddenly I staggered.
“Oh come on,” I groaned, pressing a hand to my chest. “I thought the heat was done. We already... you know... handled that situation.”
Behind me, the twins exchanged identical wolfish grins that made my stomach flutter and my spine tighten. Rafe cocked his head, and his eyes turned molten silver. “The heat can last days, little witch.”
Wyatt’s golden eyes gleamed with barely controlled hunger. “And we are here. For you. Every moment. Every need.”
My entire body lit up like someone had poured sunlight straight into my veins. And then....I growled. An actual, literal growl slithered out of my throat, low and feral. Both twins froze. Then their pupils blew wide.
“Oh hell,” Rafe whispered. “She growls now. So fucking hot.”
Wyatt cleared his throat, visibly fighting for composure. “Ysara. Sweetheart. You, ah… you’re not helping.”
“I’m not trying to help,” I shot back, and my breath started coming faster. “I’m fucking burning alive.”
Another pulse of heat rolled through me, curling down my spine, tightening everything inside me in a way that was very much not platonic.
I felt wild. High as a kite. Untethered. Slightly insane. Power prickled along my arms, bright and hungry.
“I need…” My voice broke into a whine. God, the mortification. “…something.”
The twins stepped closer, almost in sync, like I’d pulled invisible leashes around their throats.
“We’re here,” Rafe murmured, his voice deep enough to vibrate in my bones.
“Use us,” Wyatt finished, “as you wish.”
And something inside me snapped. Or awakened. Or remembered something ancient and feral that had been sleeping in my blood until now.
I slipped my hands under the hem of Wyatt’s borrowed T-shirt. Their eyes tracked the movement like predators watching prey make a fatal mistake.
“Ysara,” Wyatt warned gently, “if you take that off, we’re not... we won’t be able to...”
“That’s the point,” I purred.
Very slowly, and very deliberately, I lifted the shirt over my head and let it fall to the floor. The twins inhaled sharply. I hooked my thumbs into the waistband of the sweatpants, rolled up a dozen times to fit me, and slid them down inch by inch until they dropped around my ankles.
Bare skin. Bare everything. Bare me. Their eyes darkened in perfect unison. Heat crackled between us, alive, electric, and hungry.
I tilted my head. Smiled sweetly. And whispered...
“Catch me.”
Then I bolted. Wyatt snarled. Rafe cursed loudly. Both launched after me like hounds released from a hunt. I sprinted through the penthouse, my feet flying across marble and carpet, adrenaline singing with my heat, and laughter ripping out of me like a challenge.
Behind me I heard...Wyatt’s growl. Rafe’s bark of excitement. Furniture shifting. Footsteps pounding. Predator instincts crashing against their control.
“Ysara!” Rafe shouted. “You little menace....get back here!”
“Not a chance!” I yelled over my shoulder.
I darted around the corner, my heart racing, my hair wild, the heat making my skin feel like it was glowing.
Wyatt’s voice echoed behind me, deeper now, and threaded with his lycan:
“Run, little witch. I dare you.”
I squealed, sprinting faster. The penthouse was big, but not big enough to outrun two supercharged lycan alphas determined to pin me to the nearest flat surface. I jumped over the back of the couch, skidded across a rug, and nearly crashed into the glass balcony doors.
Then....A hand brushed my hip. I shrieked and twisted away, laughing breathlessly. Rafe’s voice came low and lethal from just behind me.
“I’m going to catch you.”
Wyatt growled, closer now. “Not if I get her first.”
I darted through the kitchen....Barely dodged an arm
...Skidded around the island....And bolted toward the hallway, the ravelyn heat pounding through me like a second heartbeat.
The twins crashed after me, their breathing ragged, and the energy between us sharp enough to cut through steel. My pulse hammered. My magic pulsed. My heat burned.
“Catch me,” I taunted again, my voice breaking into a panting laugh.
Three steps later....Two heavy sets of footsteps hit the hall behind me.
Close......Too close.
I ran faster.