Chapter 41 #3
"I've wondered sometimes. If it's selfish.
Wanting all four of you." The confession came out barely above a whisper.
"Most people get one person. One partner…
.here I am with four men who want me, and I want all of them back, and sometimes I think.
.. what if she's right? What if I am greedy?
What if there's something wrong with me for not being able to choose just one? "
Oliver was quiet for a moment. Then he pulled the truck to the side of the road and turned to face me fully.
"Daphne. Look at me." He waited until I met his eyes. "There is nothing wrong with you. Pack dynamics exist because that's how some people are wired. Some omegas thrive with one alpha. Some need more. Neither is right or wrong…it's just different."
"But—" I started, but I knew what he said was true.
"No buts." His voice was firm but gentle.
"We're not competing for you. We're not fighting over scraps of your attention.
We chose this, all four of us, because we want it.
Because the idea of sharing you with each other isn't a sacrifice, it's a gift.
" He lifted my hand to his lips. "You're not taking anything from us by letting us love you.
You're giving us everything we've been looking for. "
The tears came again, but these felt different. Cleaner somehow.
"Trinity wanted to make you doubt yourself," Oliver continued. "To make you feel like what we have is wrong or shameful. But look at what actually happened today, the whole town defended you. Defended us. Because they know the truth, even if she can't see it."
"Eleanor said it was beautiful," I repeated, the words settling into me differently this time. "Four alphas loving one omega."
"It is." Oliver smiled, soft and sure. "It will be. If you let it."
By the time we reached the house, some of the trembling had subsided. The others were already there, waiting on the porch like a welcoming committee. Levi bounded down the steps the moment I climbed out of the truck, wrapping me in a hug that lifted me off my feet.
"I'm so mad," he mumbled into my hair. "I'm so mad at her for making you feel like this."
"I'm okay," I said, and this time it felt a little more true.
"You don't have to be okay." Garrett's voice came from behind Levi. "You're allowed to be shaken. You're allowed to need time."
"What he said," Micah added. "Today was traumatic. Your response is entirely valid."
Levi finally set me down, but kept an arm around my shoulders as they guided me inside. The house smelled like something delicious, dinner preparations that had been interrupted, I realized and the living room was warm and inviting.
"Sit," Oliver commanded gently, guiding me to the couch. "I'll get you some tea."
"I can—" I started but the look he gave me, made me pause.
"Sit," Garrett repeated, more firmly. "Let us take care of you for once." So I sat. And they took care of me.
Oliver brought tea. Garrett brought a blanket. Levi sat next to me, close enough that our shoulders touched, his warmth bleeding into my cold skin. Micah settled on my other side, not quite touching, but present. A silent wall of support.
"We were going to tell you," Oliver said, settling into the armchair across from me. "About Trinity. About her asking around town, gathering information. Morrison called us days ago."
I stiffened. "You knew she was planning something?"
"We knew she was escalating. We didn't know when or how." His jaw tightened. "I made the call to wait. To not worry you unless something concrete happened. That was my decision, and I'll understand if you're angry about it."
Was I angry? I searched for the emotion and found only exhaustion. "I don't know how I feel right now. About anything."
"That's fair," Garrett said. "You don't have to figure it out tonight."
"But for what it's worth," Levi added, "Oliver was trying to protect you. We all were. We didn't want you to spend days worrying about something that might not happen."
"And now it has happened," Micah said quietly. "So we deal with it. Together."
Together. That word again. The one that kept coming up, kept being offered like a lifeline.
"The dinner," I said suddenly. "We were supposed to have dinner tonight"
"We still can," Oliver said. "If you want. Or we can postpone. Whatever you need." I thought about it. Thought about going home to my empty cabin, replaying the confrontation over and over in my head. Thought about staying here, surrounded by warmth and care and people who wanted me.
"I want to stay," I said, and the words felt like a choice. Like a step forward instead of a retreat. "I don't want to be alone tonight."
Levi's arm tightened around me. "You won't be," he promised.
"Not tonight. Not ever, if we have anything to say about it.
" Sitting there, wrapped in a blanket with four alphas surrounding me like a protective wall, I let myself believe it. Just for tonight. Just for now. Tomorrow, I’d deal with the aftermath.
Tomorrow, I’d process, plan, and probably cry some more. But tonight, I would let myself be held. Let myself be wanted. Let myself be park of a pack. All four of them… and me. Not because I was greedy or desperate or broken… because this was how we fit. How we belonged.
And that, I was beginning to realize, was its own kind of beautiful.