"More conscious of it. More intentional." I glanced at Micah. “Small gestures. Low pressure. Let her set the pace." I sat back, satisfied with the plan but not quite finished. "Now. The other matter. Trinity."
The mood in the room shifted instantly, the warmth of the fire seeming to dim as the name hung in the air. Levi's grin faded. Garrett's jaw tightened. Even Micah looked up from his notebook, his eyes sharp and alert.
"Morrison called me this morning," I continued. "She's been making inquiries around town. Asking about Daphne's property, her routines, her connections. Trying to map out her life."
"Information gathering," Micah said quietly. "Pre-attack surveillance."
"Yeah, that's Morrison's concern. He's seen this pattern before. Verbal confrontation, then research, then escalation to something more... direct." I said sighing as I ran a hand through my hair in irritation.
"We should tell Daphne." Levi's voice was tight. "She has a right to know someone's?—"
"I've decided to wait," I cut in. "Unless something concrete happens. Right now it's just suspicion. Patterns. If we tell her now, we put fear into her life that might not be warranted. We make her look over her shoulder everywhere she goes. We give her a reason to pull away from us—and from the town, the community, everything she's been building."
"And if something happens while we're waiting?" Levi demanded. "If Trinity makes a move and Daphne's unprepared?"
"She won't be unprepared. Morrison's watching Trinity. We're watching the property. If anything changes, anything at all, we tell Daphne immediately and we deal with it together." I held Levi's gaze, understanding his fear because I shared it. "I'm not being cavalier with her safety. I'm trying to protect more than just her body. I'm trying to protect her peace. Her hope. The progress she's made in letting herself trust again."
The room was quiet for a long moment. The fire popped and crackled. Wind rattled the windows.
"I don't like it," Levi said finally. "But I understand it. And I trust you."
"Same," Garrett added. "Your call, Oliver. We follow your lead."
Micah nodded once, short and sharp. Agreement without words. Something loosened in my chest—the tension I hadn't realized I was carrying, the fear that my pack would challenge a decision that was already eating at me. They trusted me. They followed me. Even when the path was unclear, even when the choices were impossible, they believed I would lead them true.
I couldn't let them down. Couldn't let her down. The silence stretched, filled with the weight of unspoken words.
"I love her," I said quietly. "I think I've loved her since the first time I saw her at the market, looking so fierce and so fragile all at once. I didn't know it then, didn't have a name for it, but looking back, I can see it was already there. “
"Oliver..." Levi started, but I held up a hand.
"I'm not saying this to stake a claim. I'm saying it because you should know where I stand. Because we're a pack, and we don't keep things from each other." I looked at each of them in turn, Garrett's steady gaze, Micah's analytical attention, Levi's barely contained emotion. "I love her. And I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, to make her happy, to give her the home she's never had.”
Then Garrett spoke, his voice rough. "I love her. Didn't think I would—didn't think I could, not this fast. But watching her, seeing who she is underneath all that armor... yeah. I love her."
"Same," Levi said, and there was no joke in it, no deflection. Just raw honesty. "I tried to tell myself it was just attraction, just chemistry. But it's more than that. So much more."
All eyes turned to Micah. He was silent for a long moment, his pen tapping against his notebook in an irregular rhythm. "I don't..." He stopped. Started again. "Emotions aren't my strong suit. You all know that. I analyze, I observe, I quantify. Love isn't something I know how to measure." Another pause, longer this time. "But when I think about a future without her in it, I feel... hollow. Empty. Like an equation with a missing variable, unsolvable and incomplete. If that's love, then yes. I love her too."
Something settled in the room. Some final piece clicking into place, some unspoken agreement made real. We were a pack. We loved the same woman. We would face whatever came next together.
"Then we're agreed," I said. "We protect her. We give her every reason to choose us, and we make sure she's safe to make that choice." I stood, signaling the end of the meeting.
I walked to the window and looked out into the darkness. Somewhere out there, Daphne was in her cabin, surrounded by her plants and her solitude and her fears. Somewhere else, Trinity was watching, waiting, planning something I couldn't predict…Here I stood, in the house we'd built, with the men I'd chosen, loving a woman who might not be ready to be loved.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Daphne
Three days.
Three days since the pottery date with Levi. Three days since I'd kissed him. Three days since I'd reorganized every closet, drawer, and cabinet in my cabin at two in the morning while trying not to have a complete emotional breakdown.
Three days of keeping everyone at arm's length while I tried to figure out what the hell was happening to me.
The texts had kept coming, gentle, patient, never demanding. Garrett had dropped off chili and left with nothing more than a warm smile and a promise that I could take all the time I needed. Micah had sent me articles start constellations, with no pressure to respond beyond a simple acknowledgment. Levi's messages were playful but careful, like he was trying to give me space while also making sure I knew he was still there, still thinking about me.
And Oliver... Oliver had been quiet. Not absent, he still checked in every morning and every night, brief messages that asked nothing but offered everything.I hope you slept well. Let me know if you need anything.That kind of thing. The kind ofsteady, unwavering presence that somehow felt more intimate than all of Levi's teasing combined.
