With the sound of her joy in my head, I sobbed silently, and Finley lifted his head from where he’d been huffing in my scent like he’d die without it. When I saw a tear slip down his cheek, cutting through the mud, my sobs were no longer silent.
“I haven’t really cried in years,” he admitted, sounding almost confused.
I coughed to try to catch my breath through the tears soaking my face. When another tear slid down his cheek, I reached up and captured it. Pressing the muddy, salty drop to my tongue.
Finley’s eyes darkened, and I groaned as his lips landed on mine, our tongues coated in our sorrow. We kissed for so long inthat dark hall, leaving mud on the shiny floors, and fractures in our hearts.
“I love you, mate,” Finley breathed against my mouth. “I have loved you from the first second I stared into your beautiful, icy blue eyes.Myice.Mymate.”
I’d barely gotten myself under control when the tears started again, and Finley kissed them away. I was so caught up in this pivotal moment between us that I didn’t even notice him carrying me up the stairs until we were in his room. I’d never stepped foot in his space before, and there was no time to notice anything, as he whisked me into his bathroom.
“I’m going to clean you up,” he warned, still kissing my cheeks, his beard marking my skin in ways I’d dreamed of. “Then we’re going to sleep in the same bed. I can’t sleep without you, darlin’. I hope you don’t mind that I’ll need you forever.”
“I don’t mind,” I promised, feeling the sort of peace that was terrifying when we were still in so much danger. Everything was going so well in my world… too well.
That anxiety dream had happened for a reason, as I sensed the impending doom that would steal all of this happiness from me. No matter how hard I fought to hold on to it.
CHAPTER 54
EMME
Iwoke surrounded by warmth and the scent of cherry, vanilla, and chocolate as our beasts slept symbolically beside us. Finley held me tight, my back plastered down his front, his leg tangled between mine. One big hand pressed against my stomach while the other sat just under my boobs. I wouldn’t have expected this position to be so comfortable, but I was relaxed enough to fall asleep again.
Then I heard a familiar voice whisper from nearby: “This is what they mean when they say they witnessed a miracle, and were eternally changed from the experience.”
“You’re a moron,” Slade said flatly to Kellan.
There was a grunt, and Hunter added, “Tell us something we don’t already know, but our annoying pup has a point. This has been a long time coming.”
I heard feet shuffling closer. “Though I will say, there’s not enough of our pretty mate to go around,” Kellan said, more loudly. “We need to sleep in shifts. I’m taking the first one right now.” Our bond hummed as he moved closer, and I didn’t even have to open my eyes to know he was about to climb in on my other side.
“I will kill you,” Finley rumbled, pissed off and half-asleep. “Leave now and you might get to keep your fucking intestines inside your body.”
As usual, a threat just set Kellan off in laughter. “Ah, Grouchy Bear. There you are. I was almost going to change your group chat name to Care Bear again. Specifically, whatever one of those little plushies is the soft-hearted one.”
Amusement flickered through my tired brain, as I’d suggested the same thing recently.
I tried to force my eyes open, but I hadn’t had enough sleep lately and my eyelids refused to cooperate. Finley buried his face in the back of my neck, my hair no doubt everywhere since I hadn’t braided it back before bed.
“Ignore them,” he whispered, his breath tracing over my skin and sending shivers down my spine. I wore one of his shirts and a pair of way-too-big-for-me athletic shorts, and the bear shifter was pressedveryclosely to me.
He let out a low, deep groan as my scent intensified.
In fact, all the alphas did, and it was only when Kellan yelped that I pried my eyes open in time to see Hunter haul him off the bed and out of the room. “Give them a damn minute,” he yelled as he went, and Kellan shot back that this wasdeprivation of his sexual liberty.
Slade smiled, and I was not awake enough to deal with his devastatingly handsome face on top of everything else. “Family barbeque starts at five,” he said. "Since you've slept half the day away, you'll only have a few hours to get ready. Attendance is mandatory. It'll be our last before we head to Europe."
I managed to get my arm out from the blankets to salute him. “Appreciate you not waking me for training today, sir. We’ll see you outside soon.”
His big chest lifted as his dragon rumbled. “Don’t call me sir unless you want to experience the consequences.”
Before I could respond—and ask for details—he followed Kellan and Hunter from the room.
“Fucking brothers,” Finley grumbled again, draping himself farther over me. As I molded to his hard length, I couldn’t quite remember why we weren’t mated yet.
I’d honestly never felt readier, even knowing I was trusting in faith and gut instinct. There hadn’t really been enough time for Finley to prove this new attitude was here to stay, but I was okay with that. Gut instinct rarely let me down.
Accepting we’d bond soon had contentment flowing through me, and I wasn’t sure if Finley felt it, but he relaxed too. “I slept so soundly,” he said, rocking me slightly in a comforting way. “With you in my arms, and the therapy techniques I’ve been working through with the doc, I can feel the change in my essence and my beast. Our moods are less erratic, and I’m dealing better with disappointment and pain.” The rocking slowed, and I turned in his arms, wanting to face him.
