CHAPTER 13
Timeline: 18 Days Until 18
“You’re not sleeping.”
Micah’s voice was soft, but it cut through the dark of the living room like a lantern. I sat on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, staring at the dying embers in the fireplace. The clock on the wall read 3:17 AM. Outside, the wind moaned through the trees, and somewhere far off, a wolf howled—long, low, and too close for comfort.
“Neither are you.” I didn’t look up. “None of you are.”
He stepped further into the room, his boots silent on the rug. He stopped a few feet away, hands loose at his sides, like he was learning to be less careful about touching me. “We take shifts. Knox and Zane are patrolling the west and north edges. Jax is on the roof. I’m inside. With you.”
“Like a guard.”
“Like someone who loves you.” He sat do
