The word made her eyes sting. Made her throat tight.
She’d wanted that so badly. A real family. Not the distant, disapproving relatives who’d barely spoken to her after her mother died. Not Travis and his cold calculations about money and inconvenience.
But this. Victor and Hyde and the baby growing inside her.
Love without conditions. Protection without strings.
Home.
“Yes,” Chloe said. “I want that too.”
Relief flooded Victor’s face. He pulled her close, careful of her belly. Kissed her with sweet intensity.
When they broke apart they were both smiling.
“Pack,” he said. “I’ll clean up out here.”
She nodded and headed to the bedroom. Her bedroom. Though it wouldn’t be much longer.
She pulled out her small suitcase—the same one she’d brought when she first arrived in Fairhaven Falls. Back when she’d been running from hurt and disappointment. When the future had seemed dark and uncertain.
How things had changed.
Chloe folded her favorite maternity dresses. The soft cardigans that made her feel cozy. Comfortable leggings and warm socks. Toiletries from the bathroom. The photo of her mother she kept on the nightstand.
Everything fit easily. She really hadn’t accumulated much.
By the time she returned to the main room, Victor had the fire banked and the remaining blankets folded. He’d even swept up most of the debris from the broken branch.
“Ready?” he asked.
Chloe looked around the cabin one last time. It had been hers for such a short time. A temporary refuge.
But it had given her what she needed. Peace. Space to heal. A place to begin again.
And it had brought her to Victor.
“Ready,” she said.
Victor took her suitcase. Moved it near the door. Then he turned to face her with an expression that was part determination, part nervousness.
“The roads are completely impassable,” he said. “At least a foot of new snow, probably drifted higher in places.”
Chloe nodded. She’d seen the depth when Hyde had patched the roof. No way her little car would make it through.
“Which means we can’t drive,” Victor continued. “And I can’t let you walk that distance in your condition.”
“So what?—”
Understanding hit her mid-sentence.
“You want to carry me,” she said. “As Hyde.”
“Yes.” No hesitation. Just calm certainty. “He’s strong enough. Fast enough. And he wants to. We both do.”
Her heart squeezed. “You’d transform voluntarily. In daylight.”
“For you? Absolutely.” He stepped closer. “I’m not afraid anymore. Not of Hyde. Not of what we are together.”
