31. Chapter Thirty-One #2
I see Mira in my mind, eyes sparking as she hugs me.
She did it. She crossed boundaries put on us by others who did not have our best interests at heart.
People who tormented and tortured us for years to achieve their purposes, but no more!
Mira has shown me it can be done. That there is nothing to be afraid of in reclaiming myself.
Once again, she’s proven she’s more than a friend.
My chosen sister wants me to choose the best for myself, too.
A gentle knock at the door pulls me back to see that dusk has fallen across the sky, marking the hours I’ve been here.
“Emma? Dinner’s ready if you’d like to join us.” Soren has come to collect me.
I rise from the bed, heart skipping in my eagerness to see him.
I cross the distance and open the door and my gaze lifts to meet his calm, steady eyes.
The fading daylight catches his brown hair, bringing out subtle shades of russet and gold as sandalwood wedges in the spaces between the cells of my body.
He’s ridiculously handsome.
Quiet lines of strength mark his lean, muscular arms folded loosely over his chest. His shirt sleeves are rolled to his elbows, displaying the subtle flex of muscle beneath tanned skin.
His hair is a little longer than when I first saw him, adding more dimension to the faint shadow of stubble over his strong jaw.
He exudes steady power, quiet authority but always gentle, always careful, never overbearing. My heart flutters, familiar stirrings of attraction whispering warmth along my veins. His eyes flare as my own scent intensifies around us, giving my thoughts away .
“Thank you.” I slip around him before I give in to my urge to drag him into my room and arrange soft blankets around the both of us.
He lets me lead and I’m hyper aware of his solid form stalking behind me. As I head into the kitchen I marvel at how safe and easy I feel walking beside someone this powerful. Someone who, a week ago, terrified me.
Thank you for your pep talk, Mira.
Phoenix’s face lights up when he sees me.
He steals a kiss as he seats me at the kitchen table.
Asher lingers behind me when he sets a heaped plate of roast chicken and vegetables in front of me, his large hand trailing up my arm leaving tingles that stoke slumbering embers to life.
I squirm as my core pulses and slick trickles from me.
Dinner passes quietly at first, the comfortable silence wrapped around us while we eat, but then Phoenix sets down his fork, casting a thoughtful glance toward Soren and Asher.
“We all need something relaxing tonight. What if we do something ordinary? Like people who aren’t fugitives hiding from a deranged, criminal network. ”
A quiet laugh escapes me at his blunt sarcasm, and when Soren suggests, “We could always play board games,” my eyes widen in surprise. The suggestion sounds so beautifully mundane. Domestic. Like I used to do with my parents to pass an evening.
Asher catches my expression, smiling as he explains. “We found a decent collection stored in the cabinet. Are you interested?”
Curiosity blooms. Witnessing them relaxed and playful is irresistible. “I'd like that.”
The dishes clear quickly, each alpha moving easily around the kitchen, and then Phoenix proudly produces an unopened Monopoly box. The four of us settle around the kitchen table, arranging colorful money and tokens.
At first, I'm uncertain how this will unfold, but as minutes pass, their personalities emerge, coming to life in intriguing ways.
Soren makes every property acquisition a calculated military maneuver.
He plots long-term returns, examining choices from every angle.
Phoenix, unsurprisingly, is all dramatic bargaining and risk-taking, happily offering absurd trades with charm, laughing even when his impulsive choices backfire.
Asher watches the board like a field general, assessing every angle. It’s an intense, fascinating contrast between the easy warmth of Phoenix, the meticulous logic of Soren, and Asher’s purposeful confidence all mingling together.
The seriousness cracks when Phoenix confidently misquotes a rule when the move doesn’t go his way. “Everyone knows if you land on Free Parking, you get all the cash from the bank on the tenth round through the game. That’s common knowledge, right?”
“I’m only going to check because I know you won’t let it go unless you see in black and white how wrong you are.
” Soren sets his token down and reaches for the rulebook with a stern look that makes Phoenix’s exaggerated eye-roll comical.
He begins reading. “Official Monopoly rules, chapter three, subsection five. Free parking space. No reward, monetary or otherwise, shall be dispensed upon landing here.”
Phoenix’s dramatic groan slices through Soren’s words. “See? He does this every time. Welcome to playing board games with a human rulebook.”
“Says the person who only bends the rules to suit themselves,” Soren says.
Phoenix gestures with open palms. “Why else do rules exist!”
Laughter bursts from me, bright, honest, genuine. I press a hand to my mouth, eyes widening in startled delight. Warmth spreads through my chest as Phoenix beams at me, Asher’s eyes soften, and Soren’s mock-serious frown melts into amusement.
Phoenix leans forward across the table, his eyes lighting with sparks. “Tough Girl, gods, I love hearing that laugh of yours. I think I want to hear more of it.”
I shake my head and raise my brows. “I can't just laugh on command.”
Phoenix tilts his head as he considers me. “Are you sure? Because…I mean, I could just tickle you.”
My eyes widen, nerves fluttering through my belly, the ridiculousness threatening a reluctant smile despite myself. “That definitely doesn't count. ”
“Oh, it absolutely does.” He rounds the table with deliberate purpose. “It's an official rule. Like the Monopoly one earlier that Soren conveniently pretends doesn’t exist.”
“There’s no rule about tickling!” I say.
Phoenix cocks a brow, a smile playing on his full, kissable lips. “Oh, isn’t there?”
I jump to my feet as Phoenix advances, giggling like an idiot. “No—Phoenix—stay back!”
I spin around to make my escape, only to skid to a halt, the air knocking lightly from my lungs as I collide safely into Soren's solid, muscular chest. His arms lightly circle me, holding me steady.
“I wouldn't mind hearing your laughter again, either,” he murmurs, eyes sparkling down at me.
A soft, breathless laugh escapes. “You too? This is completely unfair.”
Desperate for an ally, I search for Asher, hoping to find someone to halt their playful ambush but as his dark gaze holds mine, there’s absolutely no help to be found there.
Instead, heat simmers in their depths, fierce and intense.
My protest dies, replaced with a rush of heat inside me, pulsing and heavy. A fluttery, excited mixture of nervous anticipation, simmering with longing, tightens the knot in my core but without the strength of a heat spike behind it.
This is need, pure and simple. Desire. Arousal free from my biology.
I want my alphas.
Caught within Soren's strong arms, Phoenix hovering behind me, Asher’s eyes burning deliberate heat upon my skin, I do something I never would have had the courage to do even yesterday. I lift my chin. “And what are you all going to do about it?”