Kai shakes his head.
"Never."
He meets my eyes—dark gold burning with something I'm finally allowing myself to name.
"I wouldn't pull off what my father did to my mother. Wouldn't use trust as a weapon against someone who gave itfreely." His jaw tightens. "And though we seemed destined to be enemies—by blood, by history, by everything our families built—I'd rather become your lover."
The word lands heavily.
Lover.
Not alliance.
Not temporary.
Lover.
"Your Alpha," he continues. "To follow my brothers' instincts in choosing a ruthless Omega who can enter our dark world of chaos."
Our dark world.
Our chaos.
Ours.
Tears prick at my eyes.
Stupid.
I don't cry.
Haven't cried since I was twelve years old and watched my parents die.
But here I am.
In a car full of Alphas who just killed for me, who planned an elaborate rescue disguised as betrayal, who are looking at me like I'm something worth keeping.
"So..." My voice cracks. "You really want to be my Alphas?"
"Yes," Sage says immediately.
"Absolutely," Blaze adds.
"Without question," from Jett.
And Kai?—
"More than anything."
I swallow.
Hard.
"What... what if I go into heat? And stuff?" The questions tumble out—all the fears I've been suppressing, all the worriesabout what this actually means. "Or all that pack stuff I don't know how to do? I've never—I've been alone for so long—I don't know how to?—"
"We want to make it official," Sage interrupts gently. "All of us. Bonding. Real bonding, not just the accident that connected us through me."
"If you go into heat," Blaze says, grinning, "we'll help you through it. That's what packs do."
