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“We should inform your organization,” Hayze suggested after a moment of silence.
My mind raced with potential consequences—exposure, panic—but he was right. Transparency would be our best defense.
“I’ll draft an email tonight,” I agreed quietly.
“Good.” Hayze stood and stretched his towering frame. “In the meantime, I’ll make sure nothing comes near this cabin tonight.”
His words comforted me, but they only served as a reminder of how fragile this semblance of normalcy really was.
“Thank you,” I murmured as he walked toward the door.
He paused at the threshold and looked back at me with an intensity that sent another kind of shiver through me—one that wasn’t fear.
“Sleep well,” he said before stepping out into the night.
Alone now, surrounded by silence and the weight of that message on my phone screen, sleep became a distant hope. But with Hayze on watch outside, maybe the rest would find me after all.
I sat there, the phone’s screen dimming to black, its message lingering like a ghost in my mind. A shiver raced up my spine—not from the chill in the air, but from the specter of a past I thought I had buried deep beneath layers of new soil. Charlotte Bruno, a name I had shed like an old skin, seemed to claw its way back to the surface.
Yet as I wrapped the blanket tighter around me, I couldn’t help but feel an ember of defiance glowing within. My new life wasn’t just a facade; it was real, tangible. The work I did, the bonds I formed—they mattered. They were worth fighting for.
Hayze’s assurance echoed in my head:Always. It wasn’t just a promise; it was a statement of his own conviction. The Talos monster with skin of bronze and a heart that understood loyalty better than anyone else I’d ever known had become my fortress against the encroaching darkness of my former life.
I leaned back against the couch, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Each inhale drew in the pine-scented air of my new home, each exhale released some of the tension that knotted my shoulders. I had to focus on what I could control. The environmental fight we’d embarked on together needed us—needed me—to remain strong and clear-headed.
I would write that email to Wild Trust tonight. Full disclosure, no holding back. They deserved to know that their newest researcher might bring more than just controversial findings to their doorstep.
But not yet. For now, I took a few moments to sit in the stillness of my cabin—my sanctuary—and let go of the fears that threatened to unmoor me from this life I was crafting.
I rose eventually, moving to the window and peering into the night where Hayze kept watch. Even though I couldn’t see him, knowing he was out there offered a sense of protection that was as solid as his bronze form.
This complex tapestry of fear and confidence wove itself tighter around me. Fear for what remnants of Charlotte Bruno might emerge from shadowy corners, and confidence in Arlet Rune—the woman who stood before town halls, who fought for nature’s voice, who found an unexpected kinship with a creature from another world.
A faint rustle outside caught my attention, and for an instant, I tensed. But then I remembered Hayze was there—my shadow guard—and I allowed myself a small smile. He was out there somewhere among the trees, a silent sentinel between me and any threats that dared approach.
With a renewed sense of purpose fueling me, I sat down at my desk and booted up my laptop. The soft glow of the screen lit up my determined face as I began typing the email that would lay bare all that had happened since moving here—leaving out no detail about the danger that might inch its way toward Wild Trust because of me.
The night stretched on as words flowed onto digital paper—a confession, an appeal for understanding and support. When finally done, I hesitated only for a second before hitting send.
Leaning back in my chair, exhaustion claimed me like a debt long overdue. But sleep would have to wait; there was one more thing left to do—a response to that ominous text message.
Picking up my phone again, thumbs hovering over the keyboard, it took me several heartbeats before I typed out a simple yet powerful reply:
I am Arlet Rune.
And with that affirmation sent into the void, whether it reached friend or foe, I allowed myself to close my eyes and rest—even if just for a little while—in this life that was unequivocally mine now.
CHAPTER 9
Hayze
The night draped itself in a shroud of mist, the moon a hazy smudge above the treeline. I perched on a gnarled branch of an ancient fir, overlooking Arlet’s cabin, my senses alert. The cool air carried whispers of the forest, and the occasional rustle of nocturnal creatures foraging in the underbrush.
My role had shifted subtly since I first watched over her. Initially, I was a sentinel assigned by Monsters for Hire to guard a human marked by past dangers and current threats because of her fight for environmental preservation. But as I gazed at the cabin’s windows, warm light spilling out into the night, I acknowledged a truth that had crept up on me like spring thaw on snow: Arlet had become more than an assignment. She was my mate, a concept foreign to my kind until now.
I shifted on the branch, my muscles tensing as I thought about the dual threats we faced. Arlet’s past, a specter that had followed her from New York City to this tranquil refuge, could resurface at any moment. And then there were thosewho pillaged these lands, stripping them bare without thought or remorse. My protective instincts didn’t just heighten—they roared within me like a tempest.
As I kept vigil outside her home, rooted yet drawn to her human warmth, I realized my reasons for protecting her had become deeply selfish. She wasn’t just a charge to me; she was the lifeblood of my newfound humanity.
