Chapter 6
Chapter 6 - TRUST IS A WILD CREATUREThe summer heat in Pine Crest was beginning to give way to the cool, crisp air of early autumn. The leaves on the aspen trees had turned a brilliant, shimmering gold, casting a warm light over the rescue center.Wren was inside the medical barn, applying a soothing salve to the scarred leg of a young white-tailed deer. She was so focused on her task that she didn't hear Jaxson walk in until his shadow fell over the straw.
"She’s healing well because of you," Jaxson said, leaning against the wooden stall. "You have a gift, Wren. You quiet the wild in them."
Wren looked up, smiling softly. "They just want to know they are safe, Jaxson. It’s easy to be calm when you know no one is going to hurt you."
Jaxson walked into the stall, sitting down on a bale of straw opposite her. He looked at her for a long time, his expression serious. "Wren... we’ve been working together for three months. You know almost everything about me. You know about my tour in Afghanistan, you know why I built this place to hide from the world. But I don't know anything about you."
Wren’s smile faded. She looked down at her hands, her fingers tightening around the salve container. "There’s nothing to tell, Jaxson. I'm just a girl from the city who wanted a fresh start."
"A girl from the city doesn't look at every black SUV that drives past the gate like it’s a tank," Jaxson said gently, but firmly. "A girl from the city doesn't sleep with her window locked in the middle of a heatwave. And she certainly doesn't have bruises on her soul that make her jump every time a door slams."
He reached out, his large, warm hand covering hers. "I'm not asking to pry, Wren. I'm asking because I care about you. Because I think I’m falling in love with you, and it kills me to see you carrying a mountain on your back all by yourself."
The words falling in love with you sent a wave of pure, overwhelming emotion through Wren’s chest. She looked up at him, her eyes pooling with tears. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to share the burden. But she was so afraid of dragging him into her darkness.
"Jaxson... if you knew who I really was, if you knew what I was running from... you would tell me to leave," she whispered, her voice cracking. "The man who did this to me... he’s powerful. He has money, he has connections, and he thinks he owns me. If he finds out I'm here, he will destroy this place. He will destroy you."
Jaxson stood up, pulling her gently to her feet. He wrapped his strong arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest. This time, Wren didn't pull away. She buried her face in his flannel shirt, letting herself sob, letting the tears of four years of terror finally wash away.
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"Let him try," Jaxson whispered into her hair, his voice vibrating with an iron-clad resolve that made her feel entirely safe. "I’ve fought worse monsters than some city billionaire, Wren. You are not alone anymore. I don't care what your real name is. You are my Wren now. And I protect what is mine."
For the first time in her life, Wren felt the heavy, suffocating weight of her past begin to lift. She looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears, and let him kiss her—a deep, gentle, and fiercely protective kiss that sealed her trust in him.
