"Suppressants can only do so much," Vale said, his voice silk and concern. He drifted closer, his hand finding my knee underwater, silver hair floating around his face like moonlight. "You've been exposed to four alphas who want you desperately. Every night for a while. Our scents, our touch, our—" He paused, swallowing. "Your body is responding to us. Fighting through the suppressants."
"We've been scenting you," Riven added, his golden eyes burning into mine, jaw tight with tension. "Heavily. Constantly. Your body thinks it's being courted by a pack. It's preparing for what comes next."
I stared at him. At all of them.
They were right. Of course they were right. I'd known, somewhere in the back of my mind, that this was a possibility. That spending every night surrounded by alpha pheromones, being scented and kissed and held, would eventually overwhelm what my suppressants could handle.
I just hadn't expected it to happen so fast.
"How long?" I asked, my voice steadier than I felt. "How long do I have before..."
"Hard to say," Kaelan said, his jaw tight, a muscle ticking beneath the skin. "A few days. Maybe a week if you increase your suppressant dose and avoid anything that might accelerate it."
"Like being around you," I said flatly, the realization settling like a stone in my stomach.
"Yes," he admitted, the word torn from him, rough with pain. "Like being around us."
I laughed—a sharp, bitter sound that echoed strangely in the water.
"So my options are to stay away from you and maybe delay the inevitable, or keep coming to you and go into heat faster," I said, shaking my head. "That's not much of a choice."
"There's a third option," Riven said, his voice low and intense. His hand found my chin, tilting my face toward him, claws carefully retracted. "Come with us. Let us take you somewhere safe before your heat hits. Let us take care of you."
My heart stuttered in my chest.
"Riven—" Kaelan started, warning clear in his tone.
"No," Riven interrupted, his golden eyes never leaving mine, fierce and desperate. "She needs to know what we're offering. What we can give her." His thumb traced my lower lip, feather-light, making me shiver. "If your heat hits on that ship, every alpha on board will know what you are. The suppressants won't matter anymore—your scent will break through everything. They'll fight over you. Hurt you. Use you." His voice dropped to a growl, vibrating through the water. "Or you come with us. Let us be the ones to see you through it. Let us worship you the way you deserve."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the heat building under my skin and the desperate want in his eyes.
"I..." I started, but the word stuck in my throat.
"She hasn't decided yet," Vale said softly, and there was no accusation in his voice. Just gentle understanding, his silver eyes warm with patience. "She's not ready."
"Then she needs to GET ready," Riven snarled, wheeling on him, his scarred face twisted with frustration. "She doesn't have time to?—"
"Enough." Kaelan's voice cracked through the water like a whip, alpha authority ringing in every syllable. Even Riven flinched. "This is her choice. It has always been her choice. We don't get to make it for her, no matter how much we want to."
Riven's jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind. But he backed off, his hands dropping to his sides, claws extending and retracting in a frustrated rhythm.
"I know what I want," I said quietly, and all four of them went still. "I want you. All of you. I want to stay, I want to be yours, I want—" My voice cracked, emotion overwhelming me. "I want everything you're offering."
"Then take it," Thane breathed, his eyes shining with desperate hope, tears already gathering at the corners. "Please, Lily. Just take it."
"I can't," I said, and the words felt like glass in my throat. "Not yet. I'm not—I don't know how to just... choose. To trust that this is real. That you won't..." I couldn't finish.
"Won't what?" Kaelan asked, his voice impossibly gentle. He pulled me against his chest, his hand cradling the back of my head. "What are you afraid of, little one?"
Everything. I was afraid of everything. I was afraid that this was too good to be true. That I'd wake up and find out it was all a dream, or a trick, or some elaborate game they were playing. I was afraid that if I let myself believe in this—really believe—it would be ripped away from me like everything else good in my life.
I was afraid that I didn't know how to be loved. That I'd been broken for so long I'd forgotten how to be whole.
"I've been running for eight months," I whispered against his chest, my voice muffled by his skin. "Before that, I spent years preparing to run. My whole life has been about survival. About getting through one more day, one more hour, one more minute." I pulled back to look at him, at all of them. "I don't know how to stop. I don't know how to stay."
"We'll teach you," Vale said, his voice like a promise, warm and sure. He moved closer, his hand finding mine, fingers intertwining. "The same way we taught you to swim. One lesson at a time."
"What if I can't learn?" I asked, my voice barely audible. "What if I'm too broken?"
