Page 38 of Wild Thorns

“The kind of particular where showing up to Sunday dinner means something.” He met my eyes. “The kind of particular where being invited into the main house isn’t hospitality. It’s an offer.”

My mouth went dry. “An offer of what?”

“That’s for them to say.” He stood, brushing off his jeans. “I’ve probably said too much already. Eli’ll have my head.”

“Wait—”

He paused at the porch steps, looking back at me. “But know this: whatever they tell you, however strange it sounds, it’s true. Every word. The Voss family doesn’t lie.”

I didn't know what to say to that.

"I'm just their tenant," I repeated, but the words sounded hollow even to me.

Dex smiled. It was not a comforting smile.

"Right," he said with a cheeky grin. "Just a tenant."

He disappeared into the darkness, moving with that same predatory grace I’d noticed before, and I was left alone on the porch with more questions than I’d started with.

Inside, I could hear laughter. Jasper’s voice, telling some story. Rowena’s warm response. The low rumble of Callum saying something that made everyone go quiet for a moment before the laughter resumed.

Family sounds. Pack sounds.

I sat there until the lightning bugs faded and the night went fully dark, thinking about claims, legacies, and the weight of being chosen by people who didn’t choose lightly.

When I finally went inside, all three brothers looked up at once. Three pairs of eyes, three different expressions: Callum’s intense, Jasper’s warm, Eli’s searching.

“Dex give you the talk?” Jasper asked, trying for lightness.

“Something like that.”

“Don’t let him scare you. He’s protective, but he means well.”

“I’m not scared.” I wasn’t sure if it was true, but I wanted it to be. “Just… curious.”

Eli’s eyes sharpened behind his glasses. “Curious about what?”

“Everything,” I said. “There seems to be a lot to learn here.”

The three of them exchanged a look, one of those silent communications that seemed to pass between them without words.

“Stick around,” Callum said. It was only two words, but it felt like a promise.

I nodded. “Okay.”

Because somewhere along the way, without meaning to, I’d already decided.

Whatever they were hiding, whatever secrets this family kept, I wanted to know. Not because I was suspicious anymore, though I was, but because I wanted to be part of it. Part of them.

And that terrified me more than any mystery ever could.

I was climbing the stairs to my apartment when Dex's voice stopped me.

"Serena."

I turned. He was standing at the edge of the yard, half-shadowed by the magnolia tree, his massive frame somehow managing to look both casual and tense.

"Forgot to mention something." He glanced toward the main house, then back at me. "There are other old families in this area. Some have been asking about you. Word travels in certain circles."