Chapter 50 #3
For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Leo let out a breath that seemed to deflate some of the tension from his elegant frame, his shoulders dropping as the aristocratic mask slipped away. "Well. That was unexpected."
"A missing persons report," Ethan murmured, pushing his glasses up his nose in that habitual gesture he made when processing new information.
His eyes were distant, calculating behind the wire frames.
"I didn't anticipate anyone would file one.
She wasn't close to anyone at work. No family checking in.
No friends who would notice her absence. "
"That's what we assumed," Mason said, his silver eyes still fixed on the driveway where the cruiser had disappeared. His jaw was tight, tension radiating through every line of his body. "She kept everyone at a distance. There shouldn't have been anyone who cared enough to report her missing."
I felt something twist in my chest at his words, not offense, just a strange, hollow recognition. He was right. I had kept everyone at arm's length. Had built walls so high and so thick that I'd convinced myself no one could see over them, no one would notice if I simply vanished one day.
"You're right," I said quietly, and all four of them turned to look at me. "I didn't have anyone I spent time with outside of work. No close friends." I let out a small, sad laugh. "I used to tell myself that was freedom. That not needing anyone meant I was safe from Alphas."
Caleb's hand tightened on my back, his thumb rubbing soothing circles through the thin cotton of my dress. "Sweetheart..."
"It's okay," I said, shaking my head. "I'm just surprised, that's all. I spent my time making sure no one got close enough to care, and apparently some of them cared anyway."
"You made an impression," Leo said softly, moving closer to brush a strand of hair behind my ear, his touch gentle and grounding. "Even when you were trying not to. Some people see through walls, little one."
"We should have been more careful," Ethan said, his brow furrowed as he analyzed what had happened, already running through scenarios in his head. "We should have considered that even casual acquaintances might find that suspicious, might notice her absence over time."
"We didn't think anyone was paying attention," Mason admitted, and there was something like guilt in his voice, a rare crack in his controlled facade. "We assumed she was as alone as she believed herself to be."
"I was," I said firmly, reaching out to take his hand, lacing my fingers through his.
"I was alone. The fact that a few coworkers noticed I disappeared doesn't change that.
It just means..." I paused, searching for the right words.
"It means people can surprise you…even when I tried to make myself invisible..”
The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken things. I felt Caleb's chest rumble against my back as he processed my words, felt Leo's fingers still against my hair, felt Ethan's sharp gaze soften with something like understanding.
"You're not invisible anymore," Mason said quietly, his silver eyes holding mine with an intensity that made my breath catch. "You never will be again."
"I know." I squeezed his hand. "I don't want to be."
Caleb stepped closer, his hand finding the small of my back again, warm and grounding through the thin cotton of my dress. "You handled that," he said, and there was something like wonder in his gruff voice, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners.
"I did."
"By yourself."
"Yes."
Mason was watching me with that intensity that always made me feel like he was seeing straight through to my soul. He crossed the gravel slowly, deliberately, until he stood close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his silver gaze.
"You didn't call for us," he said, and his voice had gone low, almost wondering, his thumb tracing circles on the back of my hand. "You could feel us through the bond. You knew we were right there, waiting. You didn't ask for help."
"I didn't need help." I held his gaze steadily, letting him see the truth of it. "I needed to prove something. To myself. To all of you."
"What was that?" Leo asked softly, moving to stand at my other side, his elegant fingers coming up to trace the line of my jaw.
I looked at each of them in turn, Mason with his silver intensity, Caleb with his gruff protectiveness, Leo with his quiet devotion, Ethan with his watchful care. My Alphas. My pack. My choice.
"That I chose this," I said, letting them feel the conviction through the bond, warm and unwavering.
"That if someone came looking for me, came offering rescue or escape or a way out, I wouldn't take it.
I wouldn't run." I reached out to take Mason's hand with one of mine, Caleb's with the other.
"This is my life now. My pack. My home. And I will protect it—protect us—just as fiercely as you protect me. "
The silence that followed was thick with emotion. I felt it pulsing through the bond—surprise, awe, love so intense it made my chest ache.
Then Mason cupped my face in both hands, his thumbs tracing the curves of my cheekbones, and when he spoke, his voice was rough with feeling. "I love you. Every day, I love you more than I thought it was possible to love anything. And every day, you find new ways to astound me."
"What he said," Caleb rumbled against my hair, pressing closer at my back until I was surrounded by warmth, his beard scratching pleasantly against my temple. "Except with less pretty words and more..." He made a vague gesture with his free hand.
"More grunting?" Leo suggested, a hint of his usual teasing warmth returning to his voice, his amber eyes dancing with mischief.
"I don't grunt," Caleb protested, his chest vibrating against my back with indignation.
"You absolutely grunt," Leo countered, one elegant brow arching. I laughed, a real laugh, light and free—and the last of the tension dissolved like morning mist. Ethan caught my eye and smiled, that quiet smile that said he understood, he saw, he was proud of what I'd become.
"Welcome home, Ava," he said simply, his voice warm and steady.
I looked at the house behind us—our house, with its wraparound porch and its rooms full of half-unpacked boxes, its library waiting for Leo's poetry and its workshop waiting for Caleb's tools and its study waiting for Ethan's research and its music room waiting for Mason's piano.
Our Future.
"Come on," I said, threading my fingers properly through Mason's and reaching back to grip Caleb's hip. "We have a house to unpack. I have plans for that master bedroom once the movers are gone."
Leo's laugh was bright and warm, chasing away the last shadows of the morning. "Our Omega has plans, gentlemen. I suggest we assist with the unpacking with all due haste."
"Bossy," Caleb muttered, but he was grinning as he said it, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
"You love it," I countered, leaning into his warmth.
"Yeah." He dropped another kiss to my hair as we walked toward the door together, all five of us moving as one. "Yeah I really do."
We crossed the threshold of our new home, together, as a pack, and I didn't look back.
The past was finished. The future was ours.