All Chapters of Barren? Honey, I'm Just Getting Started: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

- WILLOWThe house was dead silent at six in the morning.I was sitting on the edge of my mattress, fully dressed in black leggings and an oversized hoodie, my hands resting on my knees. Dexter's burner phone was tucked under my pillow, its camera lens barely peeking through the hem of the pillowcase, running on a continuous video loop facing the bedroom door. I had set it up twenty minutes ago, just in case Callum tried to pull another midnight stunt before the elders arrived for breakfast.The brass doorknob jiggled, then turned.The door pushed open, and Sherlyn stepped inside.She wasn't wearing her frail, bedridden act this morning. She wore a crimson silk robe tied tightly around her waist, her face covered in flawless makeup, and her sharp eyes watching me like a predator. She closed the door behind her with a quiet click, turning the lock key into place."Callum's downstairs in the study talking to the pack accountants," she said softly as she walked toward the center of my

- WILLOWThe damp chill of the drainage tunnel faded the second we pushed through the rusting iron grate at the mouth of the creek. Rain was still coming down in heavy, gray sheets, drowning out the sound of our boots as we scrambled up the muddy embankment toward the treeline.Dexter reached the top first, snagging my wrist to haul me over the slick edge before I could slide back into the water. My leggings were completely plastered with black mud, and my hair was dripping wet, but the crisp air in my lungs tasted better than anything inside that estate."Car's just past that thicket," Dexter muttered, wiping rain out of his eyes as he pointed toward a dark patch of pine trees a few hundred yards out. "We throw your shoes on the bank, spill the blood, and get the hell out of here."I stopped right at the edge of the tree line, looking back through the downpour toward the high stone walls of the Ashbourne Pack compound. The grand hall lights were still blazing, radiating a dull yello

- WILLOWJust as panic started clawing at my throat, my burner phone buzzed in my pocket. A single vibration.I snatched it out so fast I almost dropped it on the linoleum floor. A text message popped up on the screen from an unlisted number:Dexter: Don't wait for me at the station. Get on the bus now.My thumb flew across the glass:Willow: Where are you?? You said you were right behind me!A few seconds ticked by. The screen lit up again:Dexter: Callum found the papers, the ring, and the video dropped on the pack server twenty minutes ago. The place is in absolute chaos right now. He’s losing his mind, tearing the main house apart, thinking someone helped you escape.Willow: Then leave! Come to the depot!Dexter: I can't. If I vanish at the exact same time you go missing, he’ll connect the dots in two seconds. I need to stay put, play the loyal guard, and watch it burn down from the inside. It's safer for both of us if I manage the mess here.I stared at the screen, tears of pure

- WILLOW It was noon, but the heavy grey fog hanging over the city made it feel like five in the morning.I checked the burner phone in my palm, double-checking the address Dexter had saved in my contacts under Salty Dog.412 South Water Street.It was a run-down pawnshop squeezed between a greasy repair garage and a shuttered laundromat. The neon sign in the dirty front window flickered OPEN, buzzing like a dying fly. I took a slow breath, tugged my black baseball cap down lower over my forehead, and pushed the front door open.A tiny brass bell jangled overhead.Inside, the place was packed to the ceiling with junk. Old acoustic guitars, dusty amplifiers, racks of leather jackets, and glass cases full of silver watches. Sitting behind a high counter made of scratched bulletproof glass was an old, heavy-set werewolf with graying mutton chops and a faded skull tattoo creeping up his neck. He chewed on a toothpick, scanning an old paperback book."We ain't buying electronics today,

- WILLOWThe floorboards under my feet were freezing, but it was the last thing on my mind.I sat on the edge of the squeaky bed, peeling off my grease-stained socks and rubbing my sore toes. The whole apartment smelled of old radiator dust and leftover fried onions from my shift at the diner, but right now, it felt like a quiet, private palace.I grabbed the burner phone from the nightstand to check the clock. 11:42 PM.The screen suddenly went dark, glowing bright blue a second later as a series of encrypted code lines scrambled across the top. The speaker gave two sharp, static buzzes before a voice call connected.I picked it up on the first ring, shoving the receiver against my ear. "Dexter?""Tell me you're locked in." His voice came through rough and breathless, with static crackling in the background. "Deadbolt, chain, everything.""I locked it two hours ago," I said, standing up and walking over to double-check the brass latch on the front door anyway. "Where the hell are you?