“This is strange,” I admitted quietly.
Eamon raised a brow. “You waking up alive?”
“No,” I responded, then hesitated. “Well, maybe some of that. But mostly this.” I gestured vaguely at the room, at them. “It’s all of you. The fact that you’re my mates now.”
Elias stepped forward until he stood at the side of the cot, close enough that I could almost feel him without him touching me.
“It’s strange because you’re used to standing alone,” he said calmly.
I swallowed but didn’t look away.
Griff lifted his chin behind him, but he didn’t interrupt. Neither did Bishop or Eamon. They watched Elias with the kind of quiet attention that spoke of knowing when a leader needed space to speak.
Elias’s voice lowered slightly, not softer, just more intimate. “Fate put you in my path. I didn’t know your history. But I knew one thing.”
“What?” I asked quietly.
“That you were my mate,” he said simply.
Griff stepped closer, his presence solid at my other side. He ran a hand through his hair, jaw working like he was deciding how honest he could afford to be.
“I’ve known too. For a while now,” he said gruffly.
I turned my head toward him. “What?”
His mouth twitched, something wry and self-deprecating there. “I knew you were my mate long before any of this.” His gaze softened then, losing some of its edge. “I didn’t push. Didn’t make any move to claim you because you weren’t ready and because it mattered to me that you chose me too.”
Bishop stepped forward next, posture straight, hands relaxed at his sides.
“For me,” he said, voice measured, “it was quieter. I felt the pull, but more than that, I trusted you. You listened. You asked questions no one else dared to ask.” His eyes held mine, earnest and unwavering. “I wanted to stand beside you, not above you.”
Eamon nodded as he joined them, his expression thoughtful, a faint smile tugging at his mouth.
“I’m a doctor,” he said, shrugging lightly. “I knew the signs. I knew what you were to me the moment you showed up at my door.”
“So, what now?” I asked softly.
“Now,” Elias answered, “you’re ours. Not because fate demands it, but because every one of us chose you, and because you chose us.”
I looked at all of them, my breath stuck in my throat. I looked at the men who’d fought beside me, bled for me, whowaited when they could have just taken me as their mate before I was ready for it.
“I’m glad I have all of you, but this is still strange,” I admitted.
Griff grinned. “Give it time.”
Bishop added quietly, “We’ll be patient.”
Eamon’s eyes twinkled. “Mostly.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Elias said.
The room felt smaller all of a sudden.
Not because anyone moved closer—though Elias was still standing at the edge of the cot, Griff so close that I could feel the heat of him, Bishop and Eamon nearby too—but because something inside me had come to life. The bond pulsed, slow and insistent, like a second heartbeat waking up and realizing it had company.
It startled me.
Warmth pooled low in my belly, spreading outward in lazy waves that made my breath hitch. It started quietly at first, then grew stronger when I realized just how close they all were. Four of my five men, all mine in a way that went deeper than choice or strategy, their presence threading into me and through me like a force of nature.
