Heat blooms across my face but deep inside I flush with pride because I can feel how much that meant to him.
“And apparently,” Kai adds, entirely unhelpful, “he had to bribe you.”
I peek up from the pillow. “With what?” I ask cautiously.
Koa clears his throat.
Kai grins wickedly. “His knot.”
I gasp.
Finn’s mouth twitches.
“It was effective,” Koa says, dignified.
I stare at him, mortified and delighted all at once.
“I hate you all,” I mutter.
“No, you don’t,” Sol says quietly.
He’s right.
I don’t.
My body aches when I shift, muscles protesting, skin hypersensitive. I feel sticky. Overused. Glorious.
“Did I at least…” I hesitate. “Bond properly?”
The room goes still.
Sol leans closer, brushing his fingers gently through my hair.
“Yes. Everything is perfect, Lani. Just like you,”
The word lands warm and sure. I already knew the answer. I can feel them. But I want to make sure they…feel me too? Don’t regret it? I don’t know.
“All of us,” Finn adds.
I close my eyes for a moment and reach inward.
They’re there. Right where I felt them before. Solid. Not tugging. Not pulling. Just…present. Perfect.
I beam before I can stop myself. “I have a pack,” I whisper.
Kai softens completely at that. “Yes,” he says.
Sol slides an arm carefully beneath me, mindful of his healing side.
“You need a bath,” he murmurs.
I wrinkle my nose. “I feel disgusting.”
“You smell like us,” Kai counters. “And I fucking love it.”
“That’s not helping.”
Sol ignores them and lifts me effortlessly despite my weak protest that he’s still recovering from his gunshot wound but he stubbornly ignores me. The movement makes me wince slightly, but it’s not pain – just awareness of how thoroughly I was claimed and how willingly I gave myself over to it.