All Chapters of Safe Between Monsters: Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

WINTER POVSleep didn’t come easy.Even when my body was exhausted… my mind wouldn’t shut off.Marcus’s message.My reply.Dante’s voice.We dismantle him.The words replayed over and over until sometime before dawn, I must’ve drifted off—because when I opened my eyes again, sunlight was already creeping through the curtains.And voices…Low.Focused.Dangerous.I sat up slowly.My body ached from yesterday’s training, from the fight, from everything. But underneath that ache… there was something else.Readiness.I stepped out of my room.The hallway was quiet, but the voices were clearer now—coming from downstairs.I followed them.The living room had been transformed overnight.Tables covered in laptops.Screens lit with maps.Camera feeds.Names.Photos.It looked less like a home… and more like a command center.And in the middle of it—Dante.Kai.Luca.They didn’t notice me at first.Dante stood over one of the tables, sleeves rolled up again, jaw tight as he studied something o

WINTER POVThe first punch sounded like a gunshot.Dante’s fist collided with Marcus’s jaw, snapping his head to the side with brutal force. The crack echoed through the room, sharp and violent.Marcus staggered—But didn’t fall.He laughed.Actually laughed.Blood spilled from his lip as he straightened slowly, eyes wild.“That’s more like it,” he said.Kai didn’t wait.He slammed into Marcus from the side, driving him into the wall hard enough to shake the frame. Wood splintered. Glass rattled.The house felt too small for this.Too tight.Too full of violence.“Stay back,” Luca said firmly, his arm blocking me as I instinctively stepped forward.“I can—”“No.” His voice softened just a little. “Not this part.”But I couldn’t look away.I wouldn’t.Marcus swung hard, catching Kai across the face. The impact snapped his head back—but Kai only grinned, wiping blood from his mouth like it meant nothing.“Your turn?” Marcus taunted.Dante grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into t