The Broken Window

Anna's POV

"Get out," I said. My voice was shaking now.

The Twins didn't move. They just stood there in my tiny apartment, looking at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. It made me want to scream.

"Anna," Ronald said softly. He took another small step forward. "Put the gun down. Please."

"No!" I shouted. I stepped back until my spine hit the wall. "You don't get to come here and act as if you care! You don't know me! You don't know what I've been through!"

Ryker's golden eyes were burning into me. He looked like a predator watching his prey. But there was something else in his face, too. It looked like... pain?

"We know what Derrick did," Ryker said. His voice was rough. "We saw the video. We saw how they treated you at that ceremony."

"And where were you?" I screamed. Tears were burning my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "Where were you when they threw me out in the rain? Where were you when I had no one?"

Ronald's face twisted with guilt. "We were in the Highlands. We didn't know."

"I don't care!" I was shaking so hard now that the gun wobbled in my grip. "I don't care about your excuses. I don't care about this stupid mate bond. I just want you to leave me alone!"

Ryker moved so fast I didn't see it coming. One second, he was across the room. The next second, his hand was wrapped around the barrel of the gun, pushing it down gently but firmly.

"We're not leaving," he said. His face was inches from mine. I could smell him. He smelled like the forest after a storm. "You can fight us. You can hate us. You can shoot us if you want. But we are not leaving you alone ever again."

I tried to pull the gun away, but his grip was like iron. Ronald moved closer, boxing me in between them. I should have felt trapped. I should have felt scared.

But all I felt was that stupid golden thread pulling at my heart.

"Let go," I whispered.

Ryker let go of the gun. Both Twins stepped back, hands raised like they were surrendering.

"We'll go," Ronald said quietly. "But we're not going far. We're going to camp outside your building tonight. If you need us, if anything happens, we'll be right there."

"I won't need you," I said. But my voice didn't sound convincing even to my own ears.

Ryker smiled. It was a dark, knowing smile. "We'll see, little wolf."

They turned and walked out. I slammed the door behind them and locked all three locks. Then I put the chain on for good measure. I pressed my back against the door and slid down to the floor.

My whole body was shaking. I could still smell them in my apartment. That forest smell. That storm smell. It made my chest ache.

"No," I whispered to myself. "I don't need anyone. I don't need them."

I stood up and went to the window. I pulled back the curtain just a little bit and looked down at the street.

They were there. Both of them. Sitting on two massive black motorcycles parked right in front of my building. They weren't looking up at my window. They were just sitting there like guards. Like sentinels.

Ronald was on his phone, probably calling someone. Ryker was cleaning his fingernails with a knife like he had all the time in the world.

Something stirred deep inside my chest. It wasn't my heartbeat. It was something else. Something that had been sleeping for a very long time.

My wolf.

I gasped and put my hand over my heart. For years, I thought I was broken. I thought I didn't have a wolf because I was weak. But now I could feel her. She was faint, like a whisper in the back of my mind, but she was there.

And she was whispering one word over and over.

Home.

"No," I said out loud. "They are not home. Home is here. Alone and safe."

But my wolf didn't agree. She was reaching out toward those two men sitting on their motorcycles. She wanted to go to them.

I yanked the curtain closed and backed away from the window.

I needed to clear my head. I needed to think. I walked to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. When I looked up at the mirror, I barely recognized myself.

My eyes looked wild. My hair was messy, and my hands were still shaking.

"Get it together, Anna," I told my reflection. "You are strong. You survived Derrick. You survived the pack turning on you. You can survive this."

I walked back into my tiny living room and sat on my old couch. I put the gun on the coffee table in front of me. Then I just sat there in the dark, listening to the sounds of the city outside.

Hours passed. I didn't move. I could still feel the Twins outside. It was like I had a radar in my chest that told me exactly where they were.

It was almost midnight when I heard them talking. Their voices drifted up through my open window.

"She's still awake," Ryker said. "I can hear her heartbeat."

"Give her time," Ronald replied. "She's been hurt. She needs to learn to trust again."

"I want to break down that door and carry her out of this dump," Ryker growled.

"I know. But we can't force her. She has to come to us on her own."

I closed my eyes. Part of me wanted to open the window and yell at them to go away. But another part of me, the part where my wolf was whispering, felt safe knowing they were there.

I must have dozed off on the couch because a loud crash woke me up.

Glass exploded everywhere.

I screamed and rolled off the couch, grabbing my gun. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would burst out of my chest.

A brick was lying in the middle of my floor, surrounded by broken glass from my window.

There was a piece of paper tied to the brick with a string.

My hands were shaking as I picked it up and unfolded it.

The words were written in red marker. They looked like they were written in blood.

TRAITOR WHORE.

I heard thundering footsteps on the stairs. The Twins had heard the crash. They were coming.

"Anna!" Ronald's voice boomed through the door. "Open up! Now!"

I was frozen, staring at the note. My vision was going blurry. Someone had just thrown a brick through my window. Someone knew where I lived.

Someone wanted me dead.

The door shuddered as someone pounded on it.

"Anna, open this door, or I'm breaking it down!" Ryker roared.

My legs finally moved. I stumbled to the door and fumbled with the locks. My fingers wouldn't work right. The chain kept slipping.

Finally, I got it open.

The Twins burst in like a storm. Ryker's eyes were glowing gold. Ronald's claws were out. They looked around the apartment, taking in the broken window and the brick on my floor.

Ryker picked up the note. His face went deadly calm. It was scarier than if he had been angry.

"Who did this?" he said quietly.

I shook my head. I couldn't speak. I was shaking too hard.

Ronald was suddenly in front of me. His warm hands cupped my face gently.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. His eyes searched my face and body for injuries. "Did the glass cut you?"

I shook my head again.

Ryker was at the window, looking down at the street. "Whoever did this is gone. But they were here. They were watching."

Ronald pulled me against his chest. I should have pushed him away. I should have told him I didn't need comfort.

But I was so tired of being alone.

I grabbed onto his shirt and finally let the tears fall.