When I'm rinsed and clean, he shuts off the water and wraps me in a soft fluffy towel. Then his robe that smells like cedar and smoke.
"Go," he murmurs, kissing my damp forehead. "Tyler has something for you."
I emerge into the living room to find a cup of tea waiting on the coffee table. Chamomile. Tyler's curled in the armchair, watching me with warm hazel eyes.
"Sit," he says, patting the couch. "Drink. We wanted you to be comfortable."
I sink into the cushions, wrap my hands around the warm ceramic. I sense my alphas moving through their own showers, quick, efficient, nothing like the reverent care Calder just showed me.
Julian emerges first, damp hair pushed back, wearing soft pajamas. He settles beside me on the couch without a word, takes one of my feet into his lap, and begins pressing his thumbs into the arch.
I moan with pleasure.
"Let us take care of you," he murmurs.
So I do. Sip my tea while Julian works knots from my feet, my calves, touch firm and grounding. Calder emerges, hair still wet, and settles into the armchair, watching me closely. Tyler, wearing a simple T-shirt and shorts, droplets of water on his neck, sits on the floor, and something in my chest expands almost painfully.
The apartment is quiet. Lamp-lit. Warm. We settle into the kind of intimacy that feels like coming home.
Julian's hands work up to my calf, kneading gently. I lean back against the cushions, boneless and cared for and aching with something I can't quite name.
This feeling. This rightness. This sense of being exactly where I'm meant to be.
I set down my tea with careful hands.
"I want you to mark me."
The words fall into the quiet like stones into still water.
Three pairs of eyes lock onto me. Julian's hands still on my calf. Tyler sits forward. Calder's whole body goes taut.
"Tonight," I continue, voice steady despite my racing heart. "I want to be marked. All three of you. I want everyone to know I'm yours."
The air changes. Charges. Like lightning about to strike.
"Elowen—" Calder starts, voice rough.
"I'm sure," I interrupt. "I've never been more sure of anything. The bond is already there, but I want the world to see it too. I want the marks."
Silence stretches. Heavy. Weighted with the enormity of what’s about to happen.
Then Tyler speaks, voice soft with wonder. "You know this is forever, El. Scars that last a lifetime."
"I know." I smile at each of them in turn. "I’ll be proud to wear your marks. I want to look in the mirror and see proof that I chose you and you chose me. That we're a pack. That this is real and permanent andmine."
Julian's hands tighten on my leg. "Society will have opinions."
"I'm not afraid. I don't care what society thinks. I care about this. About us."
Calder stands slowly. Crosses to me. Kneels in front of the couch so we're eye-level.
"This is what you want?" His storm-gray eyes search mine.
"Yes." The word comes out steady, sure. "I'm choosing you. All of you. Forever."
His hand cups my face. Thumb brushing my cheek with devastating gentleness.
"Then we'll give you what you're asking for, princess."
