She doesn’t squeeze.
Just holds.
Barely.
But I feel it everywhere.
Her warmth.
Her trust.
Her weight leaning just slightly into my side now, not Finn’s.
Finn sees.
Kael sees.
Neither of them moves or speaks.
This...whatever this is...is ours to figure out.Together.
Her head slowly shifts from Finn’s shoulder until it finds the space between us, her cheek resting half on me, half on the pillow.
I don’t breathe.
“Atlas?”she whispers.
“Yeah.”
“You’re warm.”
That shouldn’t undo me.
It does.
Finn’s hand still strokes her hair, softer now, like she might break if he presses too hard.Kael shifts closer on the floor, resting one hand on her shin over the blanket—protective, quiet, present.
She is surrounded.
Not trapped.
Surrounded.
Held in the safest cage three men could ever build.
Her hand squeezes mine faintly.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“For what?”Finn murmurs.
“For coming for me.”
Kael lifts his head slightly.“We always will.”
Her lips tremble.“I know.”
Finn’s breath shudders.
