Teaser:
Her heartbeat throbs too quickly in her own ears, like a scared rabbit's. She's acting like prey, Malia scolds herself. There are only a handful of things that she's actually afraid of, and what she's about to do next is probably the worst of them. Rubbing her sweaty palms on the fringes of her cut off jeans, she takes a steadying breath, reaches out and…knocks.
There's a muffled voice that comes from inside, and the thump of footsteps before the dorm room door swings open.
Stiles stiffens for a second, his eyebrows flying upward in surprise before he's reaching out and hauling her into his arms. "Malia! When did you—I didn't know you were coming." Malia wraps her arms around him and hugs him back just as fiercely.
She knows he's dating someone else, but this is probably that last time she's ever going to see him, so she's going to hold onto him as tight as she can, for as long as she can.
She breathes in his comforting scent and revels in the warmth and weight of his arms around her. This is the first time in the last twenty-four hours that her stomach hasn't been in knots. For just a moment she can forget that the desert wolf has her dad hostage, and that she's only hours away from trading her life to set him free. So she sinks into the hug, safe for just a moment longer in the arms of her first real friend and the only boy she's ever loved.