Page 65 of Witch's Wolf

“Hey…” his voice cuts through my panic, steady and sure.

Sam raises both hands, warm and firm, and rests them on my shoulders. His touch grounds me, but it doesn’t stop my racing heart. His gaze locks onto mine, dark and unwavering.

“Sam…” I say, choking on his name.

“Nothing is going to go wrong,” he promises. “I’ll work out a plan with my brother. We’ll cover every contingency. No one messes with my girl. No one.”

The possessiveness in his words should be unnerving, but it isn’t. It does make my chest ache, though. How do you react to that much devotion? How am I supposed to accept his certainty when everything I know has been thrown into doubt?

I don’t have an answer, nor do I have words. I do the only thing I can. I fall into his embrace.

He wraps his arms around, strong and unwavering, pulling me tight against his body. I press my forehead to his chest, inhaling the scent of him. Woodsmoke, pine, something else, something unmistakablyhim. My fingers clutch the fabric of his shirt as if that alone could hold me together.

I should say something. Tell him I don’t deserve this, that I don’t deserve him. But the words won’t come. It’s easier to let him hold me, to sink into the safety he offers and pretend, for just a moment, that it’s enough.

Because despite everything I’ve done to unravel his life, despite the chaos I’ve brought to his doorstep, Sam still won’t let go.

A clan of vampires is coming for me. And instead of running, instead of cutting his losses, he’s standing his ground. Ready to fight. For me. Ready to face monsters so I can keep my freedom.

I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing myself closer to him.

I don’t know how to fight any of this, but Sam does. And right now, that has to be enough.

36

SAM

Acasual chat between siblings? No such luck. A nice breakfast in the front yard, sharing pancakes, jam, and orange juice? Not even close. This morning isn’t about comfort or laughter. Instead of plates and coffee mugs, the thing dominating my table is the layout of Acacia Drive.

All of us lean in and study. None of us are familiar with this place. The silence stretches between us, thick with silent uncertainty. Raul’s eyes scan the map with unreadable focus. Ray, on the other hand, exhales in disbelief.

“Damn,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Look at the size of these places.”

He’s right. Acacia Drive isn’t just another street. It’s an empire of wealth, a stretch of pristine estates nestled deep in one of the richest suburbs of New York. Everything looks perfect. Too perfect. The houses sit on sprawling plots of land, distanced from each other just enough to give their owners privacy, definitely enough space for screams to never be heard.

“I bet this house has a huge rose garden,” Nora muses, tilting her head to one side as she points at one of the homes.

“There’s probably an orchard on this one,” Ray says pointing at a different estate.

I grit my teeth, trying not to growl. Seriously? We’re planning for a fight, and they’re fantasizing about flower beds? It shouldn’t surprise me. We grew up in the country. Open space is our freedom.

The city with its high-rises, close built apartments, and closer built houses that are more like cages than homes. There’s no time to get lost in what-ifs or imagining what life would be like if we’d been born rich. I need to pull them back. I need them here.

Because while they’re picturing orchards and roses, what I see are the shadows lurking between those perfect, sprawling homes. And if we don’t focus, don’t prepare, those shadows will swallow us whole.

“Will you both shut up?” I snap, glaring at Ray, then Nora. Frustration boils in my head like a volcano ready to erupt. “Tonight, this place will be full of bloodsuckers whose sole purpose is to kidnap Erica. What the hell do I have to say for you to take this seriously?”

Raul, who’s been silent until now, finally speaks.

“We should be doing this at Joe’s bar,” he says in a calm, unreadable tone. “Would be good for the whole pack to see this.”

“The pack?” I ask, blinking as my stomach clenches. We just lost two, what in the hell is he thinking? “You think that’s smart? You want to bring them in on this?”

“Yeah,” Raul says, lifting his gaze from the map and meeting mine head-on. “You said it yourself. This place will be swarming with vampires. There’s no way in hell I’m doing this with just the four of us. Besides, after… everything, it will be good for them to hunt. They need this as much as we need to protect Erica.”

He may not be wrong, but that doesn’t make it any less reckless, or dangerous. I stare at the map for a minute longer, hating the idea of putting them at risk. The memory of the funeral pyre and more, the smell of it, is too fresh.

“I appreciate the offer, but look,” I tap the map, pointing at a house marked2463. “It’s a bottleneck. One way in, one way out. If we roll up in numbers, it won’t be a rescue, it’ll be a damn parade. A motorcade down Acacia Drive? We might as well truss ourselves up for dinner.”

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