Chapter 163: Between the Flames
Josie
I stood frozen as Varen took the first step toward me. His shoulders were tense, but his eyes—those stormy eyes that always saw too much—burned with something softer this time, something that felt like an ache. My heart thundered against my ribs as if it wanted out.
"What do you want, Josie?" His voice was low but rough, a dangerous sound wrapped in velvet.
My fingers trembled. My lips felt dry as I opened my mouth, and even then the words spilled out shaky, uneven. "I want you..." My voice cracked. "I want all of you to make love to me and mean it. Not just take me like I’m a territory to be claimed. I loved the way you touched me, Varen... but I hate how you only treat me like you own me. I don’t belong to just one of you. I want the three Alphas to be with me."
The silence after that was suffocating. Their eyes widened, each flicking between me and the other, but no one spoke. I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to keep going. "I’m scared," I whispered. "I’m scared the witch will come back, and we’ll still be like this—broken—before she kills me. I don’t want to die with us like this."
Kiel’s jaw clenched. His body moved like a wall, solid and heavy, and his eyes softened only slightly. "Don’t say that again," he rumbled. "Don’t you dare. I don’t ever want to hear you speak like that." He took a step closer, his presence thickening the air. "I’ll stand like a wall and protect you."
I blinked back tears and raised my chin. "And who’s going to protect me from you, Kiel?" My voice trembled as I turned my head, flicking my gaze at Varen, then Thorne. "Who’s going to protect me from any of you?"
Varen’s lips parted as if he wanted to speak, but my question sliced through him. He stayed silent. Thorne’s usual smirk was gone; he only stared at me, unreadable. The three of them—Alphas, leaders, powerful enough to crush armies—were all silent.
"Think about it," I said, softer now, but each word was still sharp. "Think about what I’m saying. Then come with me."
I turned before any of them could answer. My legs felt like water, but I forced them to move, step by step, out of the room and down the hallway until I reached my own space. When the door shut behind me, the quiet pressed against my ears so hard it hurt.
My chest rose and fell rapidly as I leaned against the door. My palms were slick with sweat. I felt stripped raw—like I’d torn open my own skin to show them everything inside me.
The bathroom tiles were cold under my bare feet. I twisted the shower knob until the water came down scalding hot. The steam fogged the mirror almost instantly. I stepped under it anyway, letting it burn my skin, hoping it would burn away the trembling too.
I closed my eyes and whispered under my breath, not even sure if it was a prayer or a plea. "Moon Goddess... bring them to me. Please. Bring them." My throat ached with the effort not to sob.
Minutes bled into what felt like hours. The water cooled. My fingers were wrinkled. My tears slipped into the stream as if the shower itself was crying for me.
They weren’t coming.
That thought dug into my chest like a claw. My knees gave out, and I sat on the floor of the shower, pulling my knees to my chest. My sobs were quiet but relentless, rolling out of me like thunder behind closed doors. I’d asked them to see me, and still, the door stayed shut.
But then—
A faint creak.
The door.
I froze, breath trapped in my lungs. My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it over the water.
The door opened a fraction. Through the steam, I saw a shadow, then a form. Broad shoulders. The glint of wet hair already undone.
Kiel.
He stepped inside, silent, shutting the door behind him. He didn’t say a word as he undressed, piece by piece, in front of me. The steam clung to his skin, making every scar and muscle stand out like carved stone. His chest was wide, dusted with dark hair. His abs flexed with every breath. His eyes—dark, focused—never left me.
I tried to speak, but my throat closed up. My lips parted, but no sound came out.
He slid into the shower, the water streaming over his powerful frame, running down the grooves of his muscles. For the first time in what felt like forever, there was no anger in his face. Only something rawer, heavier.
The door opened again, softer this time.
Varen stepped in.
My breath hitched.
He’d stripped too. His skin glistened with water droplets from his hair, which clung damp against his forehead. The tattoos on his arms twisted like shadows under the dim bathroom light. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he walked toward me, his eyes scanning my face like he was afraid I’d vanish if he blinked.
Kiel’s mouth curved in the faintest smirk. "You don’t have to watch our dicks so closely, Josie," he murmured, voice like smoke and gravel.
Heat flooded my face, and I quickly turned my head, cheeks burning.
"Stop teasing her," Varen muttered, moving closer until the steam wrapped all three of us together.
Kiel rolled his eyes but didn’t look away from me. "There’s a lot you don’t know, Josie." His voice had shifted—softer, heavier. "But with time, you will. What I want you to know right now... is that you mean more to me than anything. I’m ready to cut my ego to pieces if that’s what it takes to keep you in my life."
Varen’s jaw worked. His hands trembled slightly as he reached out, brushing a lock of wet hair from my face. "The reason I’m like this..." He exhaled hard. "It’s because I’m so damn insecure. You were right. You are the core of the three of us. We orbit around you. And we want to know what it means to be together—really together. Not this chaos we’ve been living in."
The water hissed around us. My heart beat so hard I thought it would shatter my ribs.
"We want to see the possibilities," Varen said softly. "We want to see what it could be if we stopped fighting, stopped hurting you."
I blinked up at them both. Their eyes—two storms, two fires—were locked on me. I felt stripped bare, but not just physically. Everything inside me, every wound, every hope, was laid out between us like open hands.
My lips trembled. I swallowed hard, my voice breaking into a whisper. "I’m ready," I said. "But..." My chest rose and fell, a sob caught in my throat. "I don’t know what to do now."
And that’s where the words ended—hovering between us, heavy and electric, while the water kept falling like rain against our skin.