Measuring.
Weighing.
Then slowly… she reached for the coat.
Pulled it around herself.
The change was instant.
Not trust.
But acceptance.
And sometimes, that was the first step.
“Those marks,” Mason said carefully, nodding toward her wrists. “You ran.”
Naelli’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t run,” she said quietly. “I survived.”
He nodded once.
Fair enough.
Silence returned.
But it wasn’t the same silence as before.
It was… shared now.
The kind that didn’t demand words.
Hours passed.
The storm didn’t ease.
The fire burned lower.
Naelli shifted closer.
Not much.
Just enough.
Mason noticed—but didn’t react.
Didn’t make it something bigger than it was.
Just survival.
At some point, her voice came again, softer this time.
“They were going to sell me,” she said.
Mason’s hand stilled slightly.
He didn’t look up.
“They tied me. Traded me like I wasn’t a person.” A breath. “I waited until night. Then I cut the rope and ran.”
“And they followed.”
“Yes.”
He finally looked at her.
“Did they catch you?”
Read More
Naelli met his gaze.
“No.”
A beat.
“I found this place first.”
Something like respect flickered in Mason’s eyes.
“You’re strong,” he said.
Naelli almost smiled.
Almost.
“No,” she replied. “I was desperate.”
Mason shook his head slightly.
“Same thing, sometimes.”
The fire cracked.
Outside, the storm finally began to weaken, its rage fading into something quieter.
Inside, the air had changed.
They were still strangers.
Still cautious.
But no longer alone.
Naelli leaned back against the wall, her eyes growing heavy.
“You won’t hurt me,” she said, not as a question—but as a decision.
Mason didn’t answer right away.
Then—
“No,” he said.
Simple.
Final.
She nodded.
Closed her eyes.
For the first time that night… she slept.
Mason stayed awake.
Watching the fire.
Listening to the wind fade.
Guarding the fragile peace they had built in the middle of nowhere.
And somewhere in the quiet, he realized something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Not safety.
Not comfort.
But something close.
The feeling that maybe… just maybe…
He wasn’t as alone as he thought.