Chapter 60 Lucy
LUCY
{Days later}
The world welcomed me slowly. I moved slightly, feeling the soft comforter beneath me. God, I loved this room. I loved this bed. I loved how this new life was changing into a wonderful, warm thing.
I opened my eyes. “It’s a brand-new day,” I whispered to the empty space around me.
Morning light streamed through the gauzy curtains of my bedroom, catching in the crystal chandelier that hung from the center of the ceiling.
Tiny rainbows danced across my walls and ceiling, painting my sanctuary with fragments of color I'd once been told I might never see.
I stretched beneath the incredibly soft sheets, reveling in the sensation against my skin—another luxury I'd been denied for so long that it still felt like a dream each morning I woke to it.
I lay still for a moment, watching the prismatic display above me, remembering how these same men who now gave me rainbows had once made my life miserable.
The memory of those early days—the fear, the uncertainty, the anger—no longer stung the way it once had.
Not because I'd forgotten, but because I'd chosen to move beyond it.
To give them the space to prove they deserved me.
And prove it they had, in a thousand tiny ways that kept accumulating.
I pushed back the comforter and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, my toes curling against the plush area rug.
My body felt stronger today—another good day in a string of increasingly good ones.
The pain that had once been my constant companion had retreated to occasional whispers rather than screams.
Padding to the closet, I selected a soft sweater and leggings, clothes chosen for comfort rather than style, though the guys insisted I looked beautiful in everything. Another change from the hospital gowns and utilitarian clothing I'd worn most of my life.
The house was quiet as I made my way down the hallway toward the living room. I didn’t fear the silence though, not like I once did. I could move about freely, wherever I wanted.
When I turned the corner into the living room, the sight that greeted me stopped me in my tracks. All five of them—Xander, Asher, Nitro, Kane, and Fallon—lounged in various positions around the room. Together. All at once.
For weeks now, they’d been strictly preparing for the upcoming Cirque du Sang performance in Henderson, ensuring that everything in their routines went smoothly.
But they'd taken shifts, making certain I was never alone during my recovery, one of them always home.
That meant I'd rarely seen all five in the same place at the same time lately.
"You're all here," I said, unable to keep the smile from my voice.
Xander looked up from his position on the couch, his dark eyes warming as they met mine. "The Cirque gave everyone the day off."
"Everyone?" I moved further into the room, drawn to them by a force I couldn’t deny.
“Everyone.” Kane grinned from where he sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by what looked like costume sketches. “We’re all spending the day together. We need it. The next week is going to be hell before the big night.”
My heart fluttered at the mention of opening night.
I'd been looking forward to it forever it felt like—my return to the Cirque du Sang amphitheater.
The place where I'd nearly died was also the place where my new life had truly begun, a symmetry that wasn't lost on me.
Almost poetic really, to find a reason to be alive right where death almost claimed me.
"I can't wait," I said, perching on the arm of the sofa near Fallon. "I've been dreaming about it. The acrobats, the illusionists, and watching you guys.” That last sent lightning through me. I couldn’t want to see my men perform.
"Are you sure you're ready, Luce?" Asher asked, his tone casual but his eyes sharp with worry.
I'd heard variations of this question from each of them over the past few days. Their concern was touching, but also frustrating. I needed them to understand I couldn't—no, I wouldn't—live in fear.
"I told you," I reminded him, meeting his gaze directly, "I can't be scared of living just because I had an accident."
"A terrible accident," Nitro interjected sharply from his position by the window, his back tense as he stared outside.
Among all of them, Nitro struggled the most with letting go of what had happened.
The guilt he carried was practically visible, a weight pressing down on his broad shoulders.
I rose from my perch and moved toward him, drawn by his unveiled pain.
No matter how I tried to ease it, Nitro still blamed himself.
"A terrible accident that brought us all together," I countered, reaching his side and gently tracing the back of my hand down his scratchy jawline.
He leaned into my touch, a small smile forming though his gaze remained tight. My chest ached at the sight. I wanted to erase that memory from all of them, and replace it with something beautiful instead.
"I plan to live every minute to the fullest," I announced, turning to address the entire room, my voice stronger than it had been in years. "If something bad happens, so be it."
The effect was immediate. Five sets of Alpha shoulders straightened, five expressions darkened, and the air in the room suddenly filled with their protective scents—earth and forest and storm. The biological response was so automatic, so intense, that I nearly laughed.
"But nothing bad will happen," I clarified, softening my tone, "because I've got you guys now. I've got a family."
The word hung in the air between us, delicate and powerful.
Family. Something I'd lost, or perhaps never truly had. Not until these five broken men got past what they thought they’d wanted in an Omega and accepted me.
The woman who seemed out of place, breakable, worthless.
Only I wasn’t. I’d never been worthless.
I’d always been worthwhile, no matter how my parents once made me feel.
Xander stood, moving toward where Nitro and I lingered by the window. His presence was solid, something I knew I could lean on anytime I needed stability.
"We've got some surprises planned for the show," he said, his deep voice rumbling through me. "Good ones."
"Better than the surprise of finding me half-dead under a tent?" I quipped, unable to help myself.
Kane choked on a laugh, while Fallon shot me a look that was half-exasperated, half-admiring. Asher muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "fucking hell, woman" under his breath.
"Too soon?" I asked innocently, blinking up at Xander.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward. "Much too soon. But you've earned the right to joke about it if you want."
And that was another change—the way they respected my agency now, my right to process my own trauma in whatever way worked for me.
No more dictating what I could say or do or feel.
No more decisions made without my input.
I still remembered, vividly, the first time I’d told a doctor to tell me the truth, to stop keeping me out of the loop.
But, even after that moment, not every doctor was transparent.
"So, what's on the agenda for our rare day off together?" I asked, looking around at the five of them.
Nitro's arm slipped around my waist, a casual possessiveness that sent pleasant shivers up my spine. "Whatever you want, Lucy-Loo," he murmured close to my ear. "Today is yours."
I leaned into his solid warmth, feeling the others watching us with varying degrees of hunger in their eyes. These men, who had once seemed so terrifying, now felt like home. The safest place I'd ever known.
"I want this," I said simply, gesturing to encompass all of us together. "Just this."
I moved across the room with deliberate steps, drawn to the space between Xander and Kane on the large sectional like a compass needle finding north.
As I lowered myself between them, their heat enveloped me from both sides, their distinctive scents—Xander's forest-after-rain and Kane's leather-and-motor-oil—wrapping around me so thoroughly that I couldn’t help but feel totally, incandescently safe.
The men shifted to accommodate me, their bodies angling toward mine with an instinctive protectiveness that made warmth unfurl in my chest.
Kane's arm draped casually over the back of the couch behind me, not quite touching but close enough that I could feel the energy radiating from him. Xander's thigh pressed against mine, solid and warm through the thin fabric of my leggings. I sank deeper into the cushions with a contented sigh.
“Perfect,” I breathed out.
My Alphas began to orbit closer, planets drawn to a sun.
Fallon settled on an ottoman directly across from us, his intelligent eyes never leaving my face.
Asher sprawled on the floor at my feet, his head tilted back against the edge of the sofa, close enough that I could have run my fingers through his dark hair if I'd reached out.
And Nitro—intense, haunted Nitro—approached slowly before dropping to one knee in front of me.
"Do you need anything?" he asked, his voice rougher than usual. "Food? Water? A blanket?"
The concern in his eyes touched something deep inside me. This man who could kill anything with one precise throw of a blade, was kneeling before me with worry etched into every line of his face. Worry for me. Care for me.
In that moment, something shifted—inside me, around me, because of me.
I had been healing physically for weeks, growing stronger each day.
But this was different. This was healing of another kind, a recognition that I was no longer alone in the world.
That these five men, with all their complexity and strength and damage, had become mine as surely as I had become theirs.
Without planning it, without overthinking it, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to Nitro's.