Chapter 60
Kara
"I..." My throat closes. "I can't sleep."
Silence.
Blake stands so fast the couch shifts. "What do you need, Baby?"
You.
But I can't say it. Can't admit that ten years of independence just crumbled in forty-eight hours. That I'm terrified of being alone. That their scents are the only thing that quiets the screaming in my head—
"Can I—" My voice cracks. "Can I stay here? Tonight?"
The room goes deadly still.
Then Blake's crossing the space between us, hands cupping my face, tilting my head back.
"Yes," he says fiercely. "Fuck yes. But Kara—" His thumbs brush my cheekbones. "We're going into Rut soon. All three of us. If you sleep in our bed—"
"I know." And I do. Some instinct, some deep wolf knowledge, tells me their scents have been spiking for days. Building toward the cycle that will make them unbearable. "But I can't—I need—"
"Okay." Asher appears beside Blake, expression intense. "But you set the rules. You say stop, we stop. You say leave, we leave. Understood?"
I nod.
"Out loud, Kara."
"Understood."
Cole reaches me next, his hand finding mine. Mint floods my senses, cool and calming. "And if it's too much—if you need your own space—you can go back to your room. No questions. No judgment."
"What about—" I swallow. "Your parents?"
Blake's laugh is sharp. "They don't get a say. We're Alphas now. Our territory, our rules."
Asher nods. "Mom might try to interfere. But she has no power here. Not anymore."
The finality in his tone makes something in my chest loosen.
They're protecting me. Even from their own mother.
"Okay," I whisper. "Then... yes. I'll stay."
---
Blake moves first.
He scoops me up—one arm under my knees, one behind my back—and carries me toward the massive Alaskan King bed dominating the far wall.
"Blake!" I yelp, grabbing his shoulders. "I can walk—"
"Not fast enough."
He deposits me in the center of the mattress. The sheets smell like him—gunpowder, leather, something darker underneath. My wolf purrs.
Between my legs, I throb.
Not now. Please, not fucking now.
Asher and Cole close the door. Lock it.
The click echoes in the silence.
"We sleep in shifts," Asher explains, moving to the bed. "Usually Blake and I, then Cole. But tonight—"
"Tonight we're all here," Cole finishes. "If you want."
I nod slowly.
Blake climbs onto the bed from the left. Cole from the right. Asher takes the far edge, closest to the wall.
They leave a space in the middle.
For me.
"Come here, Baby." Blake's voice is soft. Coaxing. He pats his chest. "Lie down."
I hesitate.
Blake's expression shifts. "Kara. If you don't want to—"
"No." I crawl toward him. "I do. I just—"
"Scared?"
"Terrified."
His hand cups my cheek. "Me too."
What?
"We're terrified of hurting you," Cole adds softly from behind. "Of pushing too hard. Of—"
"Of losing you before we ever really have you." Asher's voice is barely audible. "So if you're scared? Good. That means we're even."
Something in my chest cracks.
I lie down between them. Blake's arm slides under my head, pillowing me against his chest. Cole's hand settles on my waist. Asher stays at the edge—close enough to touch, but not touching.
Giving me space even now.
Their combined scents wrap around me. Sink into my lungs. My skin.
My core.
I'm wet again. Throbbing. Clenching around nothing.
Fuck.
"Sleep, Kara," Blake murmurs against my hair. "We've got you."
Do you?
But as their scents wrap around me—ebony smoke, gunpowder leather, mint ozone—my body goes lax.
For the first time in ten years—
I feel safe.
Even if my pussy won't stop throbbing.
"Thank you," I whisper into the dark.
Blake's arm tightens. "For what?"
"For... this."
Cole's lips brush my temple. "Always, Goddess. Always."
I close my eyes.
And sleep comes.
---
The dream starts soft.
I'm standing in the frozen bay behind Midnight Estate. The ice beneath my feet glows faintly—aurora borealis reflecting off the surface in shades of green, purple, electric blue.
I'm wearing the silver slip again. The one from my birthday. But my feet are bare, toes numb against the ice, and I should be freezing—
But I'm not.
Because they're here.
Blake emerges from the tree line first, naked except for low-slung jeans, his chest bare and gleaming in the aurora light. His eyes are gold. Fully wolf.
Asher materializes on my left, dressed similarly—black jeans, no shirt, his dark hair falling across his forehead. His scent hits me like a physical force.
Cole appears on my right, mint scent so strong I taste it. He's wearing white—jeans, bare feet, his skin almost luminous against the snow.
"You came to us," Blake says. His voice is layered—human and wolf intertwined. "In your dreams."
"I—" My voice echoes strangely. "I don't understand."
"Yes, you do." Asher moves closer, his heat a brand against my side. "Your wolf led you here. To us. Because you know."
"Know what?"
Cole's hand cups my face, turning me toward him. His blue eyes burn. "That you're ours. And we're yours."
No. This is just a dream. It's not real—
But Blake's hands slide around my waist from behind, and the touch is electric. Too vivid. Too—
Real.
Heat floods between my thighs. Instant. Undeniable.
Oh fuck.
"We can feel you," Blake murmurs in my ear, his lips brushing the shell. "Even while you sleep. Your body calls to ours."
Asher's hand trails up my arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake. "And we answer."
"This—" I try to step back, but Blake's grip holds me in place. "This is wrong. I said I wasn't ready—"
"It's a dream, Kara." Cole's thumb traces my lower lip. "Dreams don't count."
Don't they?
Because this doesn't feel like a dream.
It feels like—
Destiny.
My nipples tighten beneath the thin silk. Between my legs, I'm getting wet. So wet.
Blake's hands move.
One slides beneath the thin strap of my slip, easing it off my shoulder. The fabric pools at my feet—and suddenly I'm bare on the ice, the aurora painting my skin in impossible colors.
"Blake—"
"Shh." His nose trails along my neck, inhaling deeply. "Just feel."
His hand palms my breast, thumb circling the peak. I arch into the touch, head falling back against his chest, a moan slipping free—
No. Stop. This isn't—
But fuck, it feels good.
His thumb and forefinger pinch my nipple. Gently. Then harder.
"Ah—"
My core clenches. A rush of wetness floods between my thighs.
Jesus Christ.
Then Asher's there, kneeling in front of me, his hands gripping my hips. His mouth hovers over my stomach, breath hot against chilled skin.
"We've wanted you for so long," he rasps. "Dreamed of touching you like this."
His lips press to my belly button. Trail lower—
"Asher—"
Lower.
Until his breath ghosts over my pussy.