The engine ticked in the quiet like a cooling heartbeat. Molly kept her eyes on the wolf—on Liam because looking anywhere else meant thinking about doors and thresholds and choices you can’t take back. Scarlett stirred in her car seat with a sleepy little sigh, the kind that cracked right through Molly’s ribs and reminded her that whatever this was pack lands, sentries, a house in the woods—it had to be safe. It had to be.
Jack rested his hands on the steering wheel and didn’t rush her. In the fading light, his profile was all clean lines and tension. He looked out at Liam for a beat, then back at Molly.
“We’ll go slow,” he said, voice low. “No surprises. If anything feels wrong, we get back in the truck and leave.”
“Do you… say that to all the women you bring to your…compound?” The wor
