Page 36 of Thunder's Reckoning

I stared at him. Waiting for the disgust. The recoil. The shift in his eyes that said he thought I was ruined, but it didn’t happen. He just looked at me like I was... worth holding on to.

That was almost worse.

I didn’t know what to do with kindness that didn’t come with a price. His hands on my arms weren’t rough. Weren’t claiming. Just warm. Comforting. I felt like I’d stepped off a cliff, and instead of falling on rock, I landed on something soft.

“I don’t understand you,” I whispered.

His brow pulled, just a little. “What d’you mean?”

“You should’ve walked away.”

He gave a small shake of his head. “Yeah, well. I don’t do should.”

I looked down at his boots. Worn leather. Scuffed. Real. I didn’t know what made me more scared, Gabrial finding me, or the idea that someone like Zeke might actually mean what he said.

I’d spent too long learning how to survive without anyone. Too long thinking love came with pain and devotion meant obedience. But this… this didn’t feel like that, and that scared me, because I had no clue how to deal with it.

So, I said the only thing I could.

“Okay.”

Just that.

Small. Hollow sounding, but it was all I had to give right now.

The silence stretched. I thought it might swallow us both whole until the soft creak of the floor broke it.

“Momma?” Malik’s voice. Thin, uncertain.

I turned quick, breath catching, and there he was in the doorway. His hair stuck up on one side like he’d just rolledfrom bed, Zara’s small hand tucked into his. She was half-asleep, teddy clutched tight, eyes wide and searching.

For me. For him.

I moved too fast, arms already out, but Malik didn’t move toward me. He stood tall in that way only little boys trying to be men do, shoulders squared, eyes flicking between me and Zeke.

“Everything okay?” he asked. His voice was calm, but I heard the fear threaded through it. He’d lived long enough under Gabrial to know something heavy had just happened.

“Yeah, baby,” I said softly. “Everything’s fine.”

Zeke crouched down slow, resting his forearm across one knee so he wasn’t towering over them. His voice dropped warm, calm. “Y’all hungry? I can make up somethin’ in the kitchen.”

Malik didn’t answer right away. His eyes narrowed, protective, measuring Zeke like he was still deciding if this man was safe enough to trust. Zara tugged on his hand, whispering around her thumb, “Cereal.”

Zeke gave her the ghost of a smile. “Cereal I can do.”

That broke some of the tension. Zara shuffled closer, tugging Malik with her, and he finally relented, letting them both pad into the room.

Malik’s eyes lingered on Zeke like he was still waiting for him to prove himself. Zara, though, she didn’t wait.

“Cereal,” she mumbled again, softer this time.

Zeke’s mouth tugged in that half-smile of his. “Cereal it is.”

He moved into the kitchen, easy, like he’d done this before, but I knew he hadn’t, at least, not for anyone else. He’d brought groceries yesterday, bags left on the counter without explanation. Now he was pulling open cupboards, finding what he’d stocked, like he’d lived here his entire life.

Zara padded after him, curls bouncing, teddy dragging across the floor. She climbed into one of the mismatched chairs,legs swinging. Malik stayed in the doorway, shoulders squared, hand clamped tight on mine.

“Come on, Malik,” I whispered. “It’s alright.”