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“Wh-where are we going?”
“Do pay attention, Miss Fallon. It’s time for you to face the consequences of your sins.”
I tried to pull my hand free, but his hold on me was ironclad. I wasn’t going anywhere except where he wanted me to.
“I did the right thing. How could you expect me to live the rest of my life with them—with you—if it was all a lie? Even if it was real for me, I couldn’t live with myself if it wasn’t the same for them. I’d rather spend my life alone than know the only reason you’re all with me is some magical obligation.”
He grumbled under his breath as he tugged me up the path, but his hand never released mine. The way he ran his thumb over my skin was so gentle and loving that I wanted to cry.
I saw them in the distance. Three figures racing toward us. A strange mixture of happiness and dread swirled in my gut. If Caleb was this upset, if they were frantically coming for me, what had I done? I’d made a huge mistake, hadn’t I?
Noah’s arms were around me before I could steel myself for his touch. “You’re alive. Bloody hell, dove, we thought we lost you. The bond—”
“She broke it,” Caleb growled.
“She what now?” Kingston stepped close, our sleeping baby girl in his arms. “I must’ve heard you wrong because my Sunshine couldn’t possibly be that stupid. Also, hi. Good to see you’re not dead anymore. Decided to pull a Jesus and do the whole resurrection thing, huh? Seems a little excessive, but whatever floats your boat, man.”
“He meets the Messenger of God, and yet he’s still as blasphemous as ever,” Caleb muttered, rolling his eyes before bringing the others up to speed. “Her mother spelled us all in order to ensure we played our parts in her twisted game. So our naughty little martyr thought she needed tofreeus from her bond.”
“Sunshine...” The hurt in Kingston’s voice made a tear slip down my cheek.
“I couldn’t let you live your lives like that. Bound to me by magic and lies.”
“What the fuck do you think a mate bond is? It’s fucking magic, baby. That’s why it’s rare.”
“Sure, when it’s real, but she faked it, made you believe...” My eyes found Alek’s, my broody Viking absolutely ruined.
He shook his head, disappointment etched in every perfect angle of his face. “I already lost you once, Kærasta. How could you do that to me again?”
His intentional use of the endearment had me blinking back tears. If he didn’t love me, truly love me, he never would have said it. The reproach, so tenderly delivered, absolutely gutted me.
“Once? Please. Try six or seven times. She rejected me more times than I can remember, and I’vealwayscome back for more. How could you ever doubt me, Sunshine?”
“Dove... surely you didn’t actually believeeverythinghad been a lie?”
Caleb squeezed my hand in a silent ‘told you so.’
“I didn’t know what to believe. She broke me. She took everything to get what she wanted. Including you.”
“But you’re the one who chose to cut us loose.” Noah’s brows pulled together. “Do you really not want us any longer?”
My heart shattered under the weight of their pain. “Please, you have to understand. If there was a chance, even a microscopic one, that what you felt for me wasn’t real, I couldn’t bear it. I could never allow you to go on loving me against your will if there was something I could do to fix it. If our roles had been reversed, if I was the one who’d been tricked into falling for you, wouldn’t you have done the same?”
“Fuck no,” Kingston said. “You know I’m way too fucking selfish to ever let you go, baby.”
“Perhaps,” Noah said a bit more softly. “Because I love you, I would want you to be free to choose me.”
Alek continued to hold my gaze. “When can we fix it?”
“Alek, take the baby. Sunshine, I’ll mark you again right the fuck now. Are you fully healed? I’m not going to be gentle.” Kingston gripped my nape and pressed his forehead to mine. “I don't want to go without being yours, Sunday. Ever.”
“You all still...” My voice broke, the realization of their truths hitting me with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
“We will never stop loving you, little wolf. You’re ours, and we’re yours.” Noah pulled me away from Kingston and kissed me hard before murmuring against my lips, “At least we get to exchange marks again. That was quite... pleasurable, if I recall correctly.”
“Since I don’t remember the last time, I’m quite looking forward to a second chance,” Alek said.
Wordlessly, I shook my head. I was suffering from emotional whiplash. Ten minutes ago, Caleb had been dead, and I thought for sure I’d lost all of them. Now... now they were proving just how short-sighted I’d been. But the relief I felt knowing it was real, that their love for me hadn’t been some cruel cosmic joke, it was worth the pain.
