We cling to each other, the three of us, relishing the warmth and safety of the moment.
Then I carry Cora into the room so she can say hello to Lincoln as well.
He’s pale still, his shoulder bandaged and his arm in a sling so he can’t move it too much and aggravate the wound. He blinks awareness back into his eyes as we come over, smiling when he sees Cora reaching for him.
I place her on the edge of the bed. “Be gentle, okay. He’s hurt,” I tell her, and she nods seriously, reaching over to hug him with the barest bit of pressure.
“Hey there,” he rasps, smiling wider. “I’m glad to see you too, Cora bear.”
Everett reaches over and ruffles Cora’s hair, nodding to Lainey before looking back to me. “Geoffrey is under arrest,” he says. “There was more than enough evidence to connect him to your kidnapping and breaking and entering into our house. Once they start digging into his affairs, I’m sure they’ll find enough stuff to put him away for a long time. Your old pack are also being charged.”
My eyes go wide at that. “Really?”
He nods. “As accessories in the kidnapping. They’re not getting away with betraying you like that.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, relief folding into my gut like it’s not been allowed here before.
Knowing Geoffrey won’t be coming after me anymore and that my old pack are going to be charged for their part in it as well means I can breathe easy.
We stay in the hospital with Lincoln for a couple days while he recovers, passing shifts at his bedside and trading out coffee and blankets. The hospital lights are low and steady, and the smell of hand sanitizer and antiseptic fade into the background after the first night or so.
I come to relieve Cash so he can go shower and get some rest and then settle into the chair, watching Lincoln sleep. The rise of his chest is comforting, proof that he’s breathing just fine. His jaw is slack, his face relaxed, and something soft, yet fierce builds inside me.
It’s over now. I don’t have to run again. I can settle here with Cora, I can keep all the things I’ve built here and not have to worry that someone’s going to threaten it. And it’s because these men risked everything for me. Their safety, their home, everything.
The clarity of that is overwhelming.
Lincoln is cleared to go home a day later, with instructions to keep resting his arm and not go running into any burning buildings for a while. I ask Lainey to take Cora for a while, and she smiles when she sees the look in my eyes.
Understanding passes between us, and she takes Cora from me.
“Thanks,” I whisper, giving her a one armed hug.
And so the four of us, Cash, Lincoln, Everett, and I, walk back into our house together. It really does feel like coming home, like everything falling into place the way it was always supposed to, and I take a deep breath and turn to face the three of them.
“I want your bites,” I say, finally letting out what I’ve been holding inside me for the last several hours. “I want the marks. The bond. With all of you.”
They stare at me in wonder, and I keep going, needing them to understand. “I know I can be a lot. I’m already half marked, and between being on the run for a while and the way my old pack treated me, I don’t really remember what a home is supposed to feel like. I have so many scars, and I know you know most of them now, but?—”
Before I can finish, Cash is striding forward and taking my hand in his. He lifts it, kissing the back, his eyes shining. “Yes. Yes, of course,” he says.
Everett and Lincoln come close as well, touching me and smiling. “We wanted to give you time,” Everett says. “But we want this too.”
“We want you,” Lincoln agrees.
My heart pounds to hear it. They’re all on board, all in agreement that this is what they want.
Which means it’s really happening now.
Chapter 49
Harper
We all go upstairs and end up in the master bedroom by unspoken agreement. Someone, probably Lainey, has cleaned up in the time since I was last here, and everything is righted and the sheets are fresh and clean on the bed.
Everett steps forward and cups my face, searching my eyes with his own for a moment. Everything I need to know is there on his face, the proof that he wants this and just how much.
He unbuttons my shirt with his firm fingers, pulling it off before helping me get comfortable on the bed.