Chapter 40
Daphne
Islept better that night than I had in weeks.
No tossing and turning, no waking up at two in the morning with the desperate need to reorganize something.
Just deep, dreamless sleep that wrapped around me like a warm blanket and held me until the morning sun crept through my curtains.
When I finally opened my eyes, it took me a moment to remember why I felt so.
.. light. Then the memories came flooding back.
The botanical garden. The greenhouse. Oliver's arms around me, solid and warm.
The way he'd said pack like it was a promise and a prayer all at once.
I stretched lazily, a smile tugging at my lips before I could stop it. My phone was still on the nightstand where I'd left it after falling asleep mid-text-conversation with the guys. I reached for it, scrolling through the messages I'd missed.
Levi: She fell asleep on us, didn't she?
Garrett: Let her rest. She had a big day.
Oliver: Goodnight, Daphne. Sweet dreams.
Those had all been from last night after I fell asleep then this morning around six I got another one.
Micah: Good morning. I hope you got sleep and have a good day. It is supposed to be nice today with a chance of rain this evening.
I laughed softly at Micah's text. Of course he'd checked the weather for me.
He'd found a way to be thoughtful without being intrusive, offering information I might find useful without any expectation attached.
They were all like that, I was beginning to realize.
Each of them showed care in different ways.
The thought should have terrified me. It would have sent me spiraling into panic, rebuilding every wall I'd ever constructed.
This morning, lying in my bed with sunlight warming my face and their messages glowing on my screen, it just felt.
.. right. Maybe the talk last night with Oliver helped more than I thought.
I typed back a response to the group chat: Sorry for falling asleep on you all. Apparently botanical gardens are exhausting. Micah, thanks for the weather report. I think I will work in the garden today.
The replies came almost instantly.
Levi: SHE LIVES! Good morning, sunshine!
Garrett: Need any help? I've got the morning free.
Micah: I could assist as well. I may not know a lot about gardening but I am willing to learn.
Oliver: Glad you slept well. You deserved the rest.
I stared at Garrett's and Micah's messages for a long moment.
My first instinct was to decline, to insist I could handle it myself, to maintain the careful distance I'd cultivated for so long.
Then I thought about what Oliver had said yesterday.
About letting them in. About figuring things out together, one day at a time.
Two of them at once. That was... a lot. Maybe that was exactly what I needed. To see how they worked together. To see how I fit with more than one of them at a time.
Sure, I typed before I could talk myself out of it. Both of you are welcome. Fair warning though, I put my helpers to work.
Garrett: I'd expect nothing less. Be there in an hour.
Micah: I'll bring you coffee.
Levi: Wait, they BOTH get to come over? No fair!
Oliver: You had pottery. I had the botanical garden. It's their turn.
Levi: Fine. But I'm calling dibs on the next thing.
Micah: That's not how dibs works.
Levi: It is now. I made a new rule.
I found myself grinning at my phone like an idiot. Their banter was so easy, so natural. Like a family that had been together for years, comfortable enough to tease and joke without any real heat behind it.
Pack, I reminded myself. Not family. Pack. The distinction mattered, somehow. Family was something you were born into, something you had no control over. Pack was chosen. Built. Earned.
I took a deep breath getting ready for the day. It didn’t take long for the hour to go by. Garrett arrived first, his truck rumbling up my gravel drive at precisely nine o'clock. I was already outside, kneeling in the herb garden with my hands deep in the soil, when I heard him approach.
"You started without me," he said, and there was a note of gentle accusation in his voice that made me smile.
"I've been awake for two hours. Couldn't just sit around waiting.
" I sat back on my heels, brushing dirt from my gloves as I looked up at him.
He was dressed for work today, worn jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing forearms that could probably lift a small car.
His scent reached me a moment later. I almost hummed at the familiar smell that almost wrapped around me.
"Fair enough." He crouched down beside me, surveying the garden with an assessing eye. "Micah's right behind me. He stopped to get you coffee in town."
As if on cue, another vehicle appeared at the end of my drive. Micah's car was sleeker than Garrett's truck, dark blue and practical, and he parked it with mathematical precision beside the larger vehicle. When he climbed out, I noticed he was carrying three cups of coffee.
"Good morning," he said, approaching us with his usual measured stride. He was dressed more casually than I'd ever seen him---dark jeans and a simple navy sweater that made his grey eyes look almost silver in the morning light.
“Here you go.” He handed a cup to me then one to Garrett who took it with a grin as he took a large gulp of it.
“Thank you.” I smiled at him in thanks and took a couple sips before setting it off to the side so we could get to work.
"Alright," I said, giving the two looks.
"Here's the plan. The raised beds need to be prepped for winter.
I want to get the last of the root vegetables harvested before the first frost, and there's a section in the back that needs weeding desperately.
" I looked between them. "Garrett, you take the harvesting, you've got the muscle for pulling up stubborn carrots. Micah, you can put some fertilizer in the beds I’ve already cleared, and I'll tackle the weeding. "
"Delegating already," Garrett said, lips twitching. "I like it."
"You said you wanted to be put to work." I raised an eyebrow. "Having second thoughts?"
"Not a chance." He headed toward the vegetable beds, rolling his shoulders like he was preparing for a workout.
Micah was already making his way to the fertilizer I had sitting off to the side. I watched him for a moment, struck by how different he and Garrett were, and yet how seamlessly they seemed to work alongside each other.
We worked through the morning, the three of us spread across my property. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, it was productive, punctuated by occasional questions or observations.
From the vegetable beds, Garrett held up an enormous carrot, dirt still clinging to its roots. "This thing is the size of my forearm. What are you feeding these plants?"
"Love and attention," I replied dryly. "And a very aggressive fertilizing schedule."
"Noted." He set the carrot in the basket beside him and went back to digging, a small smile on his face.
It was strange, having them here. Strange but.
.. good. Different from working alone, but not in a way that felt intrusive.
Just the quiet rhythm of three people doing something productive together, each contributing in their own way.
I found myself stealing glances at both of them as we worked.
Garrett with his broad shoulders and careful hands, gentle despite his size.With Micha with his muscles and and lean form with detailed oranted eyes watching every move he makes.
Two alphas. In my space. Working alongside me like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Around noon, Garrett straightened up from the vegetable beds and stretched, his back cracking audibly. "Break time," he announced. "I brought food."
"You brought food?" I asked, surprised. Frowning when I didn’t see him bring anything out. He must have left it in his truck then.
"Sandwiches. And those lemon cookies from the bakery that also sets up at the farmers market. Viola says you really liked those.” He gave me a sharp grin as if he was proud of finding that tidbit of information out.
"I brought tea," Micah added, closing his notebook and rising gracefully to his feet. “I figured you would like a change from coffee after working out here most of the day.”
I looked between them---Garrett with his practical offerings, Micah with his intellectual ones---and felt something crack open in my chest. They'd both thought about this. Both planned ways to take care of me, each in their own language.
"You two are something else," I murmured, not quite able to keep the emotion out of my voice.
Garrett just shrugged, but there was warmth in his amber eyes.
"We try." We settled on the porch, Garrett unpacking sandwiches while Micah poured tea from a thermos into three cups he'd apparently also thought to bring.
The autumn sun was warm on my face, the air crisp with the promise of cooler days to come.
"This is nice," I said quietly, accepting a sandwich from Garrett and a cup of tea from Micah. "Thank you…I really appreciate it.”
The porch was quiet for a moment. Then Garrett's voice, low and steady: "You're not alone anymore, Daphne. Not unless you want to be."
"Oliver told us about yesterday," Micah said, his voice careful. "About what you talked about. The nesting. The fear." I tensed instinctively, but Micah held up a hand.
"I'm not bringing it up to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted you to know that we understand. All of us." He turned to face me fully, his green eyes intense. "We know you pulled away because your instincts coming back so hard like that it scared you…but we're not going anywhere."
The words hit me somewhere deep, echoing what Viola had said, what Oliver had implied. They all saw it, this shell I'd built around myself, this half-life I'd been living.
"I'm not good with words like Oliver is," Garrett said, a self-deprecating smile crossing his face. "I can't make pretty speeches or say the right thing at the right time. But I can show you. Every day, in every way I know how, I can show you that we mean it when we say we want you."
"And I can provide reassurance by just being there." Micah added, completely serious. "We just want you to be happy."
I laughed again, but this time it was watery, tears pricking at my eyes. "You two are ridiculous."
"Ridiculously devoted," Garrett corrected. He reached out and took my hand, his calloused palm rough against my skin. "Let us show you, Daphne. Let all of us show you. That's all we're asking."
Micah didn't reach for my other hand but he shifted his chair closer, his knee almost touching mine.
A small gesture of proximity that meant more from him than grand declarations might from someone else.
My throat was tight, that familiar ache that seemed to come whenever one of them said something that cracked through my defenses.
But this time, instead of fighting it, I let it wash over me.
"Okay," I whispered. "Show me."
Garrett's smile was slow and warm, transforming his usually stoic features into something breathtaking. A low rumble built in his chest, pleased and possessive, and he lifted my hand to press a kiss to my knuckles, just like Oliver had done the night before.
Micah made a soft sound, not quite a growl, more like a hum of contentment, and when I glanced at him, his grey eyes were warmer than I'd ever seen them. "We will," he said simply. "Every day."
After lunch, we returned to work, but the energy had shifted.
There was an ease between us now, a comfort that hadn't existed before.
We worked until late afternoon, stopping only when the shadows grew long and the air took on a chill.
By the time their vehicles disappeared down my drive,Garrett's truck first, then Micah's, the garden was in better shape than it had been in months, and something in my chest felt lighter than it had in years.
I stood on my porch, watching the dust settle, and thought about the day.
Today had been a very good day and I felt more reassured of my decisions with the four alphas.
I took a deep breath and headed inside to sit down and relax for a bit.
As I sat there sipping on a some lemonade my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to find the group chat lighting up again.
Garrett: Made it home. Garden looks amazing. So does its owner.
Micah: Hope you enjoyed your day. I know I enjoyed it.
Oliver: How was the day?
I smiled, typing back: Day was good. Really good. Thank you.
Not even a second later my phone buzzed one more time.
Oliver: Dinner at our place this weekend? All of us together.
I stared at the message for a long moment. I took a few moments to think. I had enjoyed it the last two times even if the last time the urge to nest scared me.
I'd love that, I typed back. What can I bring?
Levi: JUST YOURSELF! But if you want to bring any dessert I won’t say no.
Garrett: Seconded.
Micah: I won’t object to anything you make.
Oliver: You don't have to bring anything. But if you're offering, I won't say no to anything you want to bring.
I smiled so wide it almost hurt. See you this weekend. I will bring cookies.
I set down my phone and looked around my cabin. At the reorganized closets and the carefully arranged shelves and the spaces that had felt so empty just days ago.