But the wildness in him wasn’t hostile. It wasdevoted. He vibrated with the need to protect, to touch, togive. His lips were parted like he was holding back words—or something more primal—and his hands were fists at his sides.
He'd go feral if I asked him to.
God help me, that idea made me shudder.
Then there was Jay.
Dark where the others were light, sharp where they were broad. His black hair fell in a slant across his brow like it had been styled that way by intention, not wind. His lean frame moved with quiet grace as he adjusted something on the counter—some clutter I hadn’t realized I’d left. His hands were elegant, long fingers deft as he cleaned without fanfare.
He didn’t look at me. Not yet.
But he was listening.
Jay always listened.
The beta.
Or… maybe not.
Because when my scent rose again—slight, unwilling, but undeniably mine—I saw the shift in his spine. The way his head tilted, slow and deliberate, like a predator catching the edge of something they weren’t supposed to crave.
He didn’t show hunger.
He showedawareness.
Of me.
Of us.
And still, none of them moved.
Not toward me. Not toward each other. Just three distinct storms caught in the same current. All of them watching. Waiting.
Forme.
I exhaled slowly. My body was still burning, still on fire in places I could barely stand to notice. But the pulse of it had slowed, just enough for thought.
Just enough for desire to settle into fascination.
My gaze moved from Jay to Rhett, then to Roan—and back again.
This was the situation I’d been hiding to avoid. Not just the heat. Not just the loss of control.
It wasthem.
And what I might mean to them.
And yet…
They came.
Theyfoundme.
For a long moment, none of us moved.
Not even to breathe.
But I had asked them to stay.
