“Yes.”
Not because of the heat.
Not because of fear.
Because of choice.
They chose me. I’m choosing them. And every fibre of my being is thrumming in my blood telling me this isright.
Kai shifts slightly. “We can take the pressure off,” he says. “Help you through it. Toys. Other options. It doesn’t have to be?—”
“No,” I interrupt gently.
All four of them still.
“I don’t want a workaround.”
The words land solid.
“I don’t want to manage this. I don’t want to simulate it. I want it to be real. I…if you’ll have me…I…oh god I feel crazy saying this but I want to bond.”
That changes the air entirely.
Sol goes very still.
Finn’s posture sharpens.
Koa’s breath deepens.
Kai’s humour drains completely.
“With all of us?” Kai asks quietly.
“Yes.” My voice doesn’t waver. “I want it to be official. Not implied. Not messy. Not a ‘we’ll see what happens’. But only if you all want that too.”
The heat swells beneath my skin, but it isn’t frantic. It’s purposeful.
“I’m still scared,” I admit. “But this feels inevitable – in a good way – so why wait?”
The vulnerability feels enormous but I force myself to take a deep breath and continue.
“I’m scared someone will take this away. That something will go wrong. That I’ll wake up and it’ll be gone. That the things my father has done to me will cause permanent damage.”
Finn steps closer.
“No one is taking you,” he says.
“I know that logically,” I reply. “But my whole life has been about control and correction and suppression. I’ve never been allowed to keep something that’s mine.”
Sol shifts forward slightly despite the wound but his face is showing no signs of pain right now. No, his eyes blaze with a fierce determination that steals my breath.
“You are not something that can be taken,” he says, low and certain.
“I know,” I whisper. “But I want to feel it. I want the bond. I want to know that we’re pack. That I’m yours. That you’re mine.”
The words settle heavy and deliberate in the room.
Kai exhales slowly.