“It was the same wall that’s been there for centuries.”
“Poorly. Placed.”
Finn cackles. Darian chokes on a laugh. Even Kieran’s mouth is twitching.
This.This.
I look around at all of them. These men I didn’t choose. Didn’t expect. Would die for without hesitation.
Family.
Brothers.
“She saved the world,” I say after a while. Quiet. Certain. “Now we take care of her.”
Kieran looks at Kaia. Watches her breathe.
“Always,” he murmurs.
And I know he means it.
We all do.
Mouse purrs louder near her feet. Walter pulses warm.
The fire crackles.
And for the first time since this all started — maybe for the first time in my life — I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Surrounded by brothers.
Watching over the woman who made us a family.
When she wakes… we follow her wherever she wants to go.
Chapter 9
Kaia
I wake up and nothing is trying to kill me.
That’s… new.
No nightmare clawing its way up my throat. No bond screaming danger. No shadows bristling against threats I can’t see yet.
No shadows…
I breathe deep.
Just warmth. Quiet. The soft crackle of fire and six bonds humming so low in my chest I almost mistake it for my own heartbeat.
Mouse is curled at my feet. Walter bobs near the ceiling, pulsing lazy violet.
I don’t move.
I just… lie here. Like a person. Like someone who’s allowed to exist without running.
When was the last time I did that?
