“I would never be able to love you.”
She stiffens in front of me, the slump in her shoulders impossible to miss. It’s the final blow. The one I know will break her enough to walk away. And it kills me. But I let it land anyway.
She stares at me for a beat longer, and I see it—the moment her walls slam back into place. Her eyes darken with something heavy, not anger, not sadness—just finality.
The sky mirrors her fury, and clouds gather above, thunder rumbling low and distant like the gods themselves are holding their breath. She turns without a word, her boots crunching the earth as she storms off towards the woods.
A slow clap breaks the silence.
“Well,” Ronan drawls, stepping into view, arms crossed over his chest and eyes dark with a cocktail of annoyance, understanding…and guilt. “You really outdid yourself this time.”
He hops down the porch steps, his gaze flicking toward the direction Ravena stormed off. His usually carefree smile is gone—replaced by a hint of worry that he doesn’t bother hiding.
“I had to say it.”
“Did you?” he fires back. “Because from where I’m standing, it looked a hell of a lot like you just tore her open to bleed out in the woods alone.”
I grind my jaw and look away. “She doesn’t need me, she has you and… him.”
Ronan exhales slowly, his voice quieter this time. “Cherry’s been alone for a long time. Puts on a brave face, carries everyone’s pain, but underneath all that fire…” He trails off, his gaze distant for a second. “She’s got the biggest damn heart I’ve ever seen. Big enough to hold all of us—and Darian.”
I rake my hand through my hair, pacing. “It’s not right,” I grit out. “Sharing her—it’s just not right.”
He hums thoughtfully, but there’s no amusement in it. “Nothing about our lives is right anymore, man. Not this war. Not what we have had to do to get here.” He pauses. “But if something this fucked up still manages to feel like the only thing that makes sense… why keep punishing yourself for wanting it?”
I swallow hard, really wanting a drink right now or a wall to the face.
“She’s not just something amazing, Kieran,” he adds softly. “She’s the kind of rare that doesn’t come twice.”
“But she’s yours.”
Ronan’s hand lands heavy on my shoulder, steady and sure. He nods. “And she can be yours too.”
He turns and walks toward where Ravena disappeared into the woods, leaving me standing there, feeling more conflicted than I’ve ever been in my life.
Chapter 37
RAVENA
How did you manage to get out of the house without waking them?
I give Daleyza a sheepish smile as I settle on the floor beside the small fire I started by the waterfall.
“I may or may not have created a sleeping powder and slipped it into their coffee before bed.”
Her shoulders shake with a husky laugh, head tilting as if she’s half-amused, half-scolding. I bite my lip, watching her sink beside me, the flicker of the flames painting her face in warm, golden light.
“I, for one, find what you did… mildly entertaining,”Xarothar's voice carries a deep, knowing amusement that says he’s far more amused than he’ll admit.
“Thought you would.”
Daleyza eyed me.What else did you do?
I feed another stick into the fire, letting the flames lick higher. “I left them curled up together in bed.” Her delicate laugh gets lost with mine, and for a moment, I ache for a phone—just so I could immortalise that scene forever.
As the laughter fades, my gaze drifts upward to the scatter of stars strewn across the night sky. A quiet calm settles over me, though my mind still hums with the day's weight. Loved—claimed—by two men who have entwined themselves into every corner of my life.
And the amazing sex with both of them was something I would love to do, over and over again.
