Chapter 37 Savannah #2
Logan squeezes my hand again. "They're gone. Emma made sure everyone left the resort once the storm cleared."
"But they were here. They were trying to..." I can't finish the sentence. My throat closes up.
Xavier sits beside me on the bed, somehow producing a mug of tea I don't remember asking for. "They were trying to help," he says quietly. "In their minds, they heard an omega in distress during a blizzard and their instincts told them to respond."
"That doesn't make it okay," I say, my voice sharper than intended.
"No, it doesn't," Griff agrees from where he stands near the window. His jaw is tight. "Which is why Emma already banned three of them from the wedding, and the other two showed up this morning to apologize."
I blink. "They... what?"
Logan pulls out his phone and shows me a string of texts.
Ron Ridge: I am so deeply sorry. I lost control and endangered your mate. I've scheduled an appointment with Dr. Chen for suppressant adjustment and consent training. Please convey my apologies to Savannah.
Ben Howard: No excuses for my behavior. I should have removed myself from the situation the moment I felt the pull. I'm mortified and will understand if I'm not welcome at the wedding.
I stare at the messages, something loosening in my chest. "They're taking responsibility?"
"They're mortified," Xavier confirms. "As they should be. Emma laid into them pretty hard about consent and boundaries. Apparently her exact words were, 'What the hell did you think was going to happen? A parade?'"
Despite everything, I laugh. It comes out watery and a little broken, but it's a laugh. "That sounds like Emma."
Emma gives a little bow from her perch on the bed. "I have my moments."
"The point is," Logan says, his firefighter voice firmly in place, "what happened wasn't okay. But it also wasn't malicious. It was biology overpowering common sense, and everyone involved knows they messed up."
"And if any of them had actually gotten through that door?" I ask, because I need to know they understand the severity.
The three of them exchange glances. Griff is the one who answers. "Then they'd be dealing with the three of us, and it wouldn't have ended well for anyone. But they didn't. Logan's distraction worked, the door held, and everyone went home ashamed instead of arrested."
Xavier nods. "Emma's also implementing new protocols. Any omega who needs privacy during events will have an actual safe room with better locks. And she's requiring all vendors and guests to sign updated consent agreements that explicitly cover heat situations."
I let that sink in. It's not perfect. It doesn't erase what happened or how terrified I felt. But it's acknowledgment. It's consequences. It's people trying to do better.
"Okay," I say finally. "Okay."
Logan pulls me closer and presses a kiss to my temple. "You get to decide how you feel about this. If you need space from those guys, if you never want to see them again, that's valid. But I wanted you to know they're not just pretending it didn't happen."
I nod against his shoulder, feeling the last knot of tension unravel. The situation was terrifying, but it wasn't swept under the rug. That matters. That matters a lot.
The committee seems to sense the shift in mood because they're all watching with varying degrees of sympathy now instead of just gossip-hungry excitement.
Before anyone can say anything else, Xavier does something that makes my heart stop.
He slides off the bed and drops to one knee on the hardwood floor.
The room goes dead silent. Even Emma's mouth falls open, which is a genuine Christmas miracle.
"Savannah," Xavier says, voice steady despite the emotion in his dark eyes. "We hurt you. We let pride and fear make our decisions, and we almost lost the best thing that ever happened to us."
Logan and Griff exchange a look. Then they move to flank Xavier, both dropping to one knee beside him.
The committee gasps like they're watching their favorite soap opera's season finale.
"We don't have a ring," Griff says, his usual cocky grin replaced by something vulnerable.
"But we have this." Xavier reaches into his jeans pocket and pulls out a soda can ring that's been carefully cleaned and shaped into something resembling jewelry.
"You've got to be kidding me." I stare at the makeshift ring. "A soda can ring? That's your grand romantic gesture?"
"Will you marry us?" Logan asks, gray eyes intense enough to melt steel. "All of us? Will you let us spend the rest of our lives proving we're worthy of you?"
The silence stretches. Someone, probably Carol Anne, sniffles. The matchmaking committee looks ready to explode from excitement.
I look down at these three ridiculous men kneeling on the floor, offering me a ring made from trash and their hearts on silver platters. This is insane. This is impractical. This is everything I never knew I wanted.
"Yes," I whisper, then louder, "Yes, you absolute disasters, of course yes!"
The room explodes. Beverly Hartwell actually whoops. Rose Kim claps politely. Carol Anne starts crying while muttering about celestial alignment. Linda Sue clutches her pearls so hard I'm worried she'll break the string.
Emma launches herself at all four of us in a tackle-hug that nearly sends us tumbling off the bed. "This is the best wedding gift EVER! You're getting married at MY wedding!"
"That's not how weddings work..." I start, but I'm laughing and crying and completely overwhelmed.
"Actually," Beverly interrupts, consulting her clipboard with the expression of a general planning military campaigns, "Father McKenzie is still here. It's raining so the guests can't leave yet. The ice is melting but the roads aren't safe. We can have a double ceremony."
"We don't have a dress," I point out, because apparently I'm determined to be practical during my fairy tale moment.
A new voice pipes up from the doorway. "Oh, honey, I've been eavesdropping, and I have ideas."
Mrs. Lee, the tiny seamstress who performed miracles on Emma's dress, pushes through the crowd carrying what looks like a professional sewing arsenal.
At seventy-three, she's barely five feet tall but has the presence of someone who's conquered fabric for fifty years and isn't about to let emergency wedding planning defeat her.
"Emma's backup dress," she announces, holding up a gorgeous gown. "Same size, different style. I can have it fitted in an hour."
"This is insane," I say weakly, but I'm already picturing myself in that dress.
"This is ROMANTIC!" Linda Sue practically shouts. "A double wedding! During a blizzard! With handmade rings!"
Emma bounces on the bed like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. "Please, Sav? Pretty please? I'll never ask for anything again!"
"You literally asked me to hide your mother's guest list additions yesterday."
"That was yesterday. This is today. Different day, different favor."
I look around the room at eager faces: the committee vibrating with anticipation, Mrs. Lee already mentally measuring me for alterations, and Emma with puppy dog eyes that have been getting her out of trouble since we were five.
Then I look at Logan, Griff, and Xavier, still kneeling on the floor with hope written across their faces like they're afraid I might change my mind.
"Fine," I say, and the cheer that goes up probably registers on seismic equipment. "But I'm not wearing the soda can ring for the actual ceremony."
"Already handled." Xavier produces four simple gold bands from his other pocket like a jewelry magician.
"You had rings in your pocket this whole time?"
"I've been carrying them for three months," he admits, looking embarrassed. "Just in case."
Emma makes a sound like a deflating balloon. "That's so romantic I might actually throw up."
The chaos that follows blurs together: excited chatter, plans being made and immediately changed, and controlled pandemonium that only happens when the matchmaking committee gets involved.
Beverly starts barking orders like a drill sergeant.
Mrs. Lee begins taking measurements with a tape measure that appeared from nowhere.
Carol Anne mutters about cosmic alignment while Rose Kim makes lists with campaign manager efficiency.
Through it all, I keep staring at the three men who just turned my world upside down in the best possible way.
Thanks, universe, I think as chaos swirls around us. Took you long enough.