Page 194

“You’re here,” I whisper.

“I’m here.”

I grab the front of his shirt and pull him into me. His mouth crashes against mine. The kiss is desperate and wet with tears. He holds my face as though he needs to prove he can touch me without disappearing. I kiss him until I’m breathless.

“Pepper.”

I pull my mouth from Ezra’s. Theo’s voice breaks over my name as he remains behind the first marker. His face is wet and his body strains toward us, but he doesn’t cross.

The first marker no longer glows, the fog is gone, and the water has settled.

I hold out my hand. “Come get your pack, alpha.”

Theo shoots toward us. The land lets him through.

Ezra barely has time to shift before Theo drops beside the witness stone. Theo catches Ezra by the back of the neck and kisses him. It’s not careful. Ezra grips Theo’s shirt and kisses him back with a sound that tears straight through me.

Then Theo turns to me. His gaze drops to my blood-covered face and swollen ankle. Every protective instinct inside him goes feral. His scent sharpens, his alpha presses between us, and his eyes are wild.

“Before anyone panics, head wounds are known drama queens,” I say.

Neither of them laughs.

Theo slides one arm behind my back and the other beneath my knees. He lifts me as if I weigh nothing. Pain flashes when my leg moves, but then I’m against his chest, surrounded by leather, bourbon, and the purr shaking through his whole body. Ezra rises beside us and presses close enough that his arm wraps around me where Theo holds me.

I catch the front of Ezra’s shirt with one hand and Theo’s neck with the other. “I need both of you.”

Theo understands first. He lowers his mouth to mine. Ezra kisses the corner of my lips, then Theo turns enough to bring him into it. The three of us tangle together. Theo holds me in the center while Ezra’s hand cups my face. Our mouths meet and separate, then find each other again. It’s messy, frightened, and passionate. It feels like coming home.

When we finally break apart, all three of us are crying.

Ezra presses his forehead to mine. “I let go.”

“And you came back,” I say.

“I chose to.”

Theo’s arms tighten around me. “I stayed.”

“You trusted me,” Ezra says.

“I wanted to cross that line so badly I thought it would tear me apart.”

“But you stayed,” I say.

“Because you told me how to protect our pack.”

Our pack.

I look between them. Ezra is solid against my side. Theo holds me as if he will never take my presence for granted.

“This is my pack,” I say. “Mine. Both of you.”

Ezra kisses my temple. “Ours.”

Theo presses his mouth to my blood-sticky curls. “We choose you. Always.”

I look at both of them. “Every day.” My voice cracks. “I choose this pack. I choose our house. I choose every ridiculous, terrifying part of this.”