me, his navy suit perfectly fitted to him as he pushed to his feet, his hand held out for mine.
“Penny?” he asked gently. “You ready for this? They’re your pack, Beta.”
I stood, frozen to the spot as my heart pounded, and their faces went from amused to concerned. “Pixie?” Shannon murmured carefully, moving to stand. “What’s wrong, angel?”
What was wrong? Nothing. Everything. “Just… give me a second,” I wheezed out, managing to hold up a finger.
“What happened?” Chann inquired, also pushing to his feet as I headed to the kitchenette to lean against the countertop for a minute. “I missed something.”
“If you did, I did too, bro,” Zev muttered. “She’s pale as a damn ghost.”
“Kitten, talk to us,” Ian demanded. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, turning back to face them as I gripped the counter hard in my hands.
“You’ve all given up so much for me. You blindly sacrificed for my life, not knowing what the cost of the magic would be,” I whispered, looking between them.
“And we’d do it again,” Chann stated fiercely. “You’re ours, Tinkerbell.”
“You’ve taught me and fought for me and helped me face all of these changes. You stood by me in a duel. You helped me get justice for my mother.” My knuckles were white now as I squeezed the counter harder, my heart thundering in my chest so loudly I could barely hear my own words. “You all told me you loved me. You let me explore who I was, what I wanted.” They were all frozen, watching me warily as though they thought I was about to cut and run.
“Kitten, is that what this is about?” Ian’s voice was soft as he held his hands up. “I know you don’t want to hurt anyone, but we all do love you. That means we want you to be happy. If that means choosing one of us, or none of us, we will support you. We’re your pack, kitten, and that’s not going to change.” His dark eyes held mine. “You’ll never lose us.”
I sucked in air, forcing out the words I needed. “Total honesty, right? That’s what makes this work.” I looked at each of them in turn, unable to move but needing to explain, to make them understand. “I think the human part of my brain finally caught up with the wolf part, because I finally get it.” I sucked in air, forcing out the words. “I just, I need you to listen. I realized that I couldn’t handle losing any of you. I’ll take down anything that threatens you. I don’t care what it costs me, because if they take any of you, it will break me. Lupine Hollow is my pack, but all of you, you’re my heart. I love all of you. I’m in love with all of you.”
None of them moved as I rambled.
“When Selene brought me back, my body was wolf, but my mind was still human, and I kept telling myself I couldn’t have all of you. You’d hate me in time for it. You’d make me choose. And I know you said you wouldn’t, but that kind of thing only happens in stories, not to people like me. It was all so fast and part of me kept thinking it was just the magic, you only wanted me because Selene linked us, it was part of the cost, you know? And that someday, my part of the cost would kick in and that would be losing all of you. But I don’t care—if I have to fight to keep you, I will. I love you, all of you, so much, and I can’t risk us going out there tomorrow without you knowing it.”
I sagged backwards, feeling the counter dig into my back as fear clawed at me. None of them said a word, all of them continuing to gape at me in utter shock after my manic outburst, and I rubbed at my face as embarrassment stained my cheeks with heat.
“Um, so, what happens now?” I squeaked. Alarick’s eyes glowed, the neon blue pulsing brilliantly, and a wave of heat washed over me, nearly knocking me off my feet as I staggered. I barely caught myself before I hit the floor. “Ari?” I gasped, but I was up in his arms in a moment, his lips capturing mine in a deep kiss.
Shannon was laughing and crying behind me. “Command, love,” she explained. “You told us to listen. Alarick had to release us from