The storm outside raged on, thunder rumbling in the distance as lightning split the sky in jagged streaks. The wind howled, rattling the windows of Lena’s cottage, but inside, the world had grown strangely quiet. After the chaos of the fallen tree, the violent surge of energy, and the destruction of the library roof, Lena found herself back in the comforting, dim glow of her home.
But her mind was anything but calm.
Rylan had taken her home, both of them soaked from the storm, and now they sat together on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. His presence beside her was a steady comfort, the warmth of his body grounding her, but there was something else simmering just beneath the surface—an unspoken tension, a pull she couldn’t quite put into words. It had always been there, lingering between
