And now that he was no longer taking the suppression drugs, he actually had an appetite.
“Not that.” Sam studied him with those too-perceptive eyes. “You look… at peace.”
At peace.Yes. That was it exactly. The constant war between control and suppression had ended. The fear that Hyde woulddestroy everything he loved had faded, because Hyde loved Chloe with the same fierce, devoted protectiveness. He wasn’t a monster to be caged, but a guardian to be trusted.
“I am,” he said simply. “For the first time in my life, I’m not afraid of what I am.”
“Because of her.”
“Yes.” No point denying it. “Chloe sees all of me and accepts it all. She loves all of me.”
Sam’s expression softened. “Nina does the same. Strange, isn’t it? After spending all those years convinced we had to be alone in order to protect people from ourselves.”
“When what we really needed was someone who could see past the monster.”
“To the person underneath.” Sam glanced towards Nina and Chloe. “We’re lucky.”
“We are.”
They stood in companionable silence. Two predators. Two protectors. Two males who’d found something they’d thought impossible. Acceptance.
“I never thought I’d be here,” he admitted. “At a festival. In a crowd. Without—” He gestured vaguely at himself. At the slight increase in size that hadn’t faded. At the green glow he could feel behind his eyes.
“Without losing control?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not,” Sam pointed out. “You’re just being what she needs. A guardian.”
“A slightly enlarged version of myself.”
“Does she mind?”
He thought of her teasing, her easy acceptance. The way she’d patted his expanded arm like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“No,” he said. “She doesn’t mind at all.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
Sam was right. The opinions of others—the fear, the judgment he’d spent years avoiding—none of it mattered anymore.
Only Chloe mattered, Chloe and their baby and the family they were building together.
“You look happy,” Sam added. “Genuinely happy.”
“I am.” He met his friend’s eyes. “I’ve never been happier in my life. Hyde is at peace. I’m at peace. Love was the answer all along.”
“Ironic, isn’t it? We spent so long running from the one thing that could save us.”
“Terrified we’d destroy it.”
“When it was strong enough to hold us all along.” Sam smiled slightly. “Nina anchors me. Keeps me grounded.”
“Chloe does the same.” He glanced toward the women. They were laughing about something, Chloe’s hand on her belly andNina’s expression full of warmth. “She and the baby. They’re my world now.”
“Good.” Sam clapped him on the shoulder. “You deserve that. After everything you’ve been through. Everything you’ve overcome.”
He thought of his father and the fear and suppression that had defined his childhood. Of the years spent convinced he was dangerous. All of it leading here. To this moment. To Chloe and the family they were creating.
