Rafe Book Novels & Stories

She pulled one off the shelf, its cover embossed with a faded emblem that looked strangely familiar. As she flipped through the pages, a name caught her eye—a name she hadn’t thought about in years. Her heart raced as a memory surfaced, blurry and fragmented but undeniably real. Before she could process it, the sound of footsteps behind her made her jump. She turned to see Rafe standing in the doorway, his expression as unreadable as ever. “Find something interesting?” he asked, his voice neutral. She clutched the book to her chest, her mind racing. “Just… looking,” she said cautiously.

Rafa muttered. I rolled my eyes, but the truth was I liked this, the banter, the constant picking at each other. If I felt normal and safe, it was something that anchored me. Rafa shifted again, his fingers brushed my ankle before he pretended he wasn't doing it on purpose. I raised a brow. “Do you want something?” I asked. “For you to stop pretending to read.” “I am reading.” “Upside down?” Okay, he got me there. He reached out, plucked the book from my hands, and tossed it aside.

He let anger control his body, so he couldn't think straight to prevent that from happening to Lexie. Rafe banged his head against the bookshelf as he felt his brain keep making fun of him about how stupid he was today. He made Lexie do something she shouldn't have done. He drags Lexie into his life filled with darkness. Rafe banged his head so many times that he was sure the voices making fun of him had stopped echoing in his head.

Rafe, ever helpful, rips a piece of paper from a notepad and wads it up, tossing it onto the table – a little piece of kindling for me to get started. I take a deep breath, hoping I don’t burn this whole damn tent to the ground.

The rooftop falls quiet again, but now it feels different, calm and intentional. Rafe nudges the case with his boot. “Do you want me to leave the feed open?” “Yes.” “And if he activates the camera again?” My jaw tightens. “Then he’ll see exactly what I allow him to see. I want him to believe he's still tracking her.” A slow grin spreads across Rafe’s face. “Damn, man! You’re insane.” “I know.” He straightens up and picks up the case. "For what it’s worth," he says nonchalantly, "this might just be the most entertaining thing you've dragged me into. I've already booked my ticket. Front row seat to whatever chaos you're about to unleash."

I am never shocked. I always expect things to happen, at a point I expected this conversation to happen, right at that moment when I was talking to Safira. I anticipated this, but I didn't anticipate this conversation. “I thought no one read those books but me.” King Rafie chuckles and his eyes soften. “I’m waiting for the second book from the author. Humans are fascinating in the way they think and imagine aren’t they?” I nod because they are. I’ve been haunted by dreams of living my days out in a small house in the human realm, with a library and all the books I could want in the world. I still want that dream to become a reality.

I make myself another coffee. I sit at the kitchen table across from Rafe and his unread book, and we drink our coffee in the quiet morning, and for the first time in weeks I am not bracing for anything at all.

"My apologies, Alpha, Luna. Rafe doesn't always know how to behave. So naughty." "It's quite all right." I crouched in front of the boy. "How old are you, Rafe?" "Four," he announced proudly. "Oh, a big boy now. You have to protect your mother and listen to her." He nodded and puffed out his chest. "Yes, Yuna. I'm the strongest in my whole nursery class." I laughed softly. "I can tell. You'll grow into a strong warrior." Rafe beamed. "Yuna, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen..." Then his eyes went wide. "After Mommy, of course. Mommy's the most beautiful."

Rafe is everything Matteo isn’t and everything the family pretends not to need. He handles problems that don’t stay quiet, he’s known as the executioner, some even call him the devil because he bleeds so others don’t have to. He doesn’t ask for praise and never expects mercy. He grew up knowing he would not only inherit power but responsibility so showing weakness or any trait that would make people think he was soft wasn’t a choice. But from the moment Elowen entered their world, everything changed especially for him…. Rafe knew two things: 1. She didn’t belong in it.

After patiently listening to my explanation, Rafe fell silent for a moment before recommending several titles and directing me to a bookstore that specialized in first editions and academic publications. As I thanked him and prepared to end the call, his calm voice stopped me. "Do you want to meet up?" The question was delivered so naturally that it caught me off guard. There was no reproach. No mention of the month I'd spent avoiding them. It was as though he and Dom had simply been waiting for me to be ready. Waiting for me to find my own way back. I stood outside the bookstore for several long seconds before a faint smile finally found its way onto my face.