“I’m sorry,” he whispered as Titan held them both against his giant chest. “I saw Beatrix’s aura change color and reacted without thinking.”
“She wasn’t in danger,” Titan said with a sniff. His tears had stopped, but his eyes were red and deep fear was etched on his face. “Sopek loves his book club. He’d never hurt anyone in it ortheir friends unless someone did something stupid, like attack him.”
Arthur let out a long sigh. “I reacted without thinking. I won’t do that again.”
Beatrix was realizing how close Arthur had come to dying. It made her scared for him and this new world she was thrust into.
But there was no going back. Now that she was in it, she couldn’t imagine giving up Titan, Arthur, and her new friends.
They remained holding each other in the middle of her apartment until Titan stopped sniffling. Arthur kept up a running monologue promising to be more careful and not let his emotions get the better of him.
Finally, Titan let go of them. “I never got to finish my beer,” he lamented, making Beatrix chuckle. He gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry about Sopek. I didn’t think he’d do anything to you.”
She shook her head. “It didn’t hurt.” She let her eyes focus on Titan so she could see the colors swirling around his frame. “I kinda like it. Your aura is really pretty.”
“You promise you’re not in pain or uncomfortable?” Arthur asked. “A bruja might be able to undo what Sopek did.”
“No, now that I have this, I want to keep it,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “Just like I want to keep both of you.”
A single tear dropped from Titan’s left eye. “Do you mean you want to soul bond with us?”
She reached up and wiped the tear away with her thumb. “Yes. I never want to live without either of you.”
He took her hand in his, then took Arthur's hand in his other. She finished the circle by slipping her free hand into Arthur’s.
“You’ll never have to,” Arthur promised. “Close your eyes, sweetheart. When you open them again, you’ll see new colors from our souls being linked.”
Beatrix closed her eyes, ready to start her new life with her soul mates.
Chapter 7
Titan
It was hard, but Titan kept himself from bursting into tears again. This time they would’ve been from joy, but he really didn’t want to cry anymore.
“You want us to stay together?” he asked, scared he’d misunderstood Beatrix’s statement. “As in a throuple? As in soul bonded?”
Arthur’s body tensed as the two of them waited for her answer.
“Yes,” she said.
“Just like that?” Arthur asked. He sounded a little fearful, and Titan could understand. It would be difficult to walk away from Beatrix before they all bonded. It would be literally impossible after they shared souls.
Beatrix flattened her palm over her heart. “Everything inside me says this is the right choice.” She shook her head with a little chuckle. “Getting to meet everyone helped. Listening to them talk about their relationships was familiar and comforting. Did you know that Pike sings to his tomato plants? Memphis talks in his sleep. Carter will stretch out and take up an entire king-sizebed if no one is there to cuddle. All their stories were adorable and charming. There wasn’t a single story about being hurt and threatened by their partners. Not a single one. Not even a verbal fight.”
“Our world can be dangerous,” Arthur warned her. Titan wished he hadn’t said that but understood.
“Oh, I know,” she said with a little snort. “The girls didn’t spare any details. There seems to be a lot of abduction in your world.” She held up a hand before either of them could start talking. “What was important to me was that all the threats were from the outside. None of these people had to deal with violence within their relationships. Even when Kimble was feral, he was gentle with Cora and Pike.”
“I’d rather die than hurt either of you,” Arthur said. “And I’d die to protect you.”
“How about none of us dies?” Titan suggested, making Beatrix chuckle.
“I second that,” Beatrix said.
A smile spread across Arthur’s face. “I’ll work very hard on that.”
“We all will,” Titan said.
