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I leap a foot in the air, stumble back, and topple down the porch steps as I strangle a scream.
Familiar hands grip my arms, preventing me from my second fall of the night. And then I’m staring into Rune’s face.
“Sorry, cher.” His expression is apologetic. “We wanted to wait outside for you—”
“Even though I invited them inside,” my mom continues.
I peek over his shoulder. Mom is at the doorway as Cian and Kylian stand feet away.
“Youinvitedthem inside?” I blink in surprise. She said she would try to like them, but I hadn’t been expecting her to invite them into the house so soon.
“They are alphas, but you need them to be happy, and I need you to be happy. Come inside. All of you. It’s late for me, but you’ll be more comfortable talking in the den.” She turns and walks inside.
It feels strange, them being in the house with me. Upstairs, the floorboards creak and I wonder if Mom is going to bed now, or if she’ll stay up worrying about me.
I’m standing at the den window that overlooks the backyard while Cian, Rune, and Kylian sit on the lilac couch. They look absolutely ridiculous on it. Either they’re too big for it or the couch is too small. I have to keep looking away so I won’t laugh.
That’s not the only reason I want to laugh. They’re here. Somehow they’re here.
Crossing my arms, I smile wryly and try to hide the rips on my dress. “Trust you to see me now and not when I wanted you to.”
None of them smile back.
“You were at the hotel. For us,” Cian says, his expression serious.
I look away, too embarrassed to meet his gaze. “I need to change. You can’t possibly—”
Rune’s firm grip halts me when I’m feet from the door. “You look beautiful, Everleigh. You will always look beautiful to us, in a torn dress, in just a T-shirt… wearing leaves.”
I burst out laughing. “Wearingleaves?”
He flashes me a grin. “It was all I could think of.”
Cian points his chin at my ripped dress. “What happened?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter now.”
He looks like he’s getting ready to ask for details but doesn’t get the chance when Kylian clears his throat.
“I heard you,” Kylian says.
While Rune was stopping me from rushing upstairs, Kylian got to his feet. He’s standing in front of the fireplace and scrutinizing the framed sketch I hung. It’s Mom’s last picture of me from her sketchpad, with a corrected nose. Seeing it makes me realize where Della must have gotten her inspiration for my Cinderella moment that went horribly wrong. Maybe it’s why Mom was so happy to go along with it.
“You did?” I ask.
Kylian peers over his shoulder at me. “I did. But when I tried looking for you, I couldn’t see you.” He nods at the picture. “One of yours?”
I shake my head. “Mom.”
His lip quirks in a half-smile. “You have real talent in your blood, baby.”
I smile back. “I know.”
“Ky told us he thought he’d heard you shout his name when we got inside the hotel.” Cian doesn’t seem to notice all the mud and dirt crusting the front of my dressorthe mascara on my cheeks. None of them do. “Mostly, he was trying to convince himself it was all in his head.”
I search his expression. “But something must have made you realize I had been there for you to be here now.”
“It was a feeling we had,” Cian admits quietly. “A feeling that kept on growing the longer we stayed at the hotel. So we left to find out if we were right about that feeling.”
