Kieran hasn’t moved in over an hour. His eyes are open, faintly glowing, fixed on nothing — the vigilance of someone who’s decided sleep is optional when something precious is in his arms.
But the rest of us?
We’re finally breathing.
Finn is the first to break the silence.
“So.” He stretches his legs toward the fire, groaning dramatically. “That happened.”
Torric snorts. “Which part?”
“All of it?” Finn gestures vaguely. “The sex. The screaming. The bond explosion. The part where Kieran became a living weighted blanket.”
“I am providing a service,” Kieran says without looking up.
“You’re cuddling. It’s cuddling. Just admit it.”
The corner of Kieran’s mouth twitches. He doesn’t deny it.
I feel something loosen in my chest. Not everything — we’re still on a frozen mountain with something wrong waiting at the top — but enough. Enough to remember that we’re not just soldiers marching toward disaster.
We’re also… this. Whatever this is.
Darian shifts against the cave wall.
He’s been quiet since Kaia fell asleep, after he hurried back into his clothes. Pale. Shoulders too tight. I’ve been watching him spiral for the last hour, waiting for the moment he cracks.
Here it comes.
“I shouldn’t have—”
“Try finishing that sentence and I’ll hit you with a rock,” Finn says.
Darian blinks. “What?”
“Seconded,” Torric adds.
“You’re fine, Darian.” Aspen’s voice is gentle but firm. “She’s fine.”
Darian’s jaw works. “But she—”
“Chose you.” I keep my voice steady. Grounded. “She didn’t break because of you. She broke because she finally felt all of us at once. That’s not your fault. That’s just… a lot.”
“Six bonds hitting her at full volume,” Finn mutters. “Honestly, I’m impressed she only had one panic attack.”
Darian stares at me. At Finn. At the others.
Something shifts in his expression. The guilt doesn’t vanish — I don’t think it ever will, not completely — but it stops strangling him.
His shoulders drop.
“She was… loud,” he says finally. Almost to himself.
Finn’s grin spreads across his face like sunrise. “Oh, weknow.”
Torric groans. “We were trying not to mention it.”
“Why?” Finn spreads his hands. “It’s not like we didn’t all hear. These cave walls aren’t exactly soundproof.”
