She glanced at Rafe and Dorian.
Her life.
Here.
With them.
The Lions had left late the night before, Victor explained, after long conversations with the Bears.“They went to check on Sienna,” he said.“She wasn’t safe staying alone.”
That mattered.
Riley leaned back against the pillows, exhaustion settling deep into her bones, but beneath it was something warmer.Steadier.
She reached out, fingers threading with Dorian’s, Rafe’s hand closing over hers.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said quietly.
The words settled into the room like a promise.
Rafe’s hand tightened around hers, thumb brushing slow, deliberate strokes over her skin.His voice was low when he answered, steady but threaded with something fierce.“Good.Because neither are we.”
Dorian lifted his head, meeting her eyes fully now.There was no humor in his expression, no teasing—just truth, bare and unguarded.“This isn’t something we walk away from, Riley.You’re ours.Chosen.And we don’t take that lightly.”
Her throat tightened.“I know.I just—” She exhaled, letting the fear she hadn’t voiced finally surface.“I need to know that there’s ...more than just surviving this.That there’s a life after the fighting.”
“There is,” Rafe said immediately.“With you.Here.”He gestured subtly around the room, the headquarters beyond it.“You don’t have to run.You don’t have to patch yourself together alone anymore.”
Dorian nodded, his hand sliding to rest over her heart, careful of the bruises.“We build forward.Days that don’t start with alarms.Nights that don’t end in blood.And when the world comes knocking anyway,” his mouth curved faintly, “we face it together.”
She swallowed hard, emotion cresting fast and unexpected.“I never thought I’d have this,” she admitted.“A place.People who—” Her voice faltered.“Who stay.”
Rafe leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers, breath warm.“We stay.”
Dorian echoed it softly, like a vow.“Always.”
Riley closed her eyes, letting their presence settle around her—solid, real, chosen.The ache in her head faded into the background, replaced by something steadier than relief.
The world hadn’t become safer.
But now she knew what she was fighting for.
And she wasn’t fighting alone.
