“Wren,” Finn says softly, “you don’t have to choose.”
“I know.”My lips tremble.“That’s what scares me.”
Atlas lifts his head slightly.“We don’t scare you.”
“No,” I whisper.“That’s the problem.”
Something tender cracks across Atlas’s face, so fleeting and soft I almost miss it.
Kael kneels beside the couch, resting a hand next to my hip.“Then let us be what you need.That’s all we’re asking.”
“But what if I mess everything up?”I ask.
Finn squeezes my fingers.“Then we’ll fix it.”
“What if I don’t know how to do this?”
Atlas’s voice deepens.“Then we’ll learn together.”
“What if it’s too much?”
Kael says, “Then we’ll slow down.”
“What if—”
Finn cuts me off gently.“Wren.Look at us.”
I do.
And all three of them look back like I’m the center of their universe.
Not a burden.
Not a patient.
Not a problem.
Someone they want.
Someone they choose.
Someone they will carry through darkness if they have to.
Atlas reaches up and touches my cheek with the back of his fingers—soft, reverent, like he’s touching something breakable and precious.
Kael leans closer, his knee pressing into the couch cushion beside mine.
Finn’s thumb strokes the back of my hand in slow circles that make my heartbeat ache.
“You’re safe,” Kael says.
“We’re here,” Finn whispers.
“We’re yours,” Atlas murmurs.
My breath stutters.
And for the first time since Adrian stepped into my bedroom—
