Page 111 of Broken Bonds

Jilly is putting up a brave front, but her eyes betray her anguish. It pains me to see my best friend —who has always been my rock and source of support— hurting because of me. Despite her own emotional turmoil, she’s trying her best to stay strong for the men who have been instrumental in helping me heal these last few months. Gods, I love her so damn much.

When I look at Link, his forehead is pressed to Forde’s shoulder, eyes clenched shut. A tear sits frozen on his lashes, ready to drop onto Forde’s shirt the minute time starts moving again.

If time would just tick and I could get back into my body, maybe, just maybe, I could save them this torment. To stop the fractures forming within their hearts. But how?

I hear a baby’s cry again. And then another, pulling my attention away from my loved ones. I feel like I’m floating again as I make my way down the hall, the crying seeming to get louder the farther I go until I’m at the NICU. When I look through the window, I don’t see anything, and the crying has stopped, but I can hear whispers. There are voices cooing and talking softly, so I push through the door, stopping in my tracks when it closes behind me.

Four familiar pairs of eyes turn and look at me, and a sob catches in my throat.

“Hey there, Petal. You’re not supposed to be here yet,” Lake says, a sad smile appearing on his lips.

They’re all here.

My alphas.

“Well, are you going to come meet our babies or not?” Rule asks, grinning at me and looking just as gorgeous as he did before the accident.

I look at him quizzically and make my way over to where they’re all standing, surrounding three bassinets with the tiniest little beings inside them. All three have oxygen tubes in their noses, but other than that, they look healthy. Just small. Beautiful.

Tears fill my eyes as I look back at Rule.

“They didn’t make it either?” I cry, covering my face with my hands.

I failed.

They didn’t even get to really live.

“Hey, no. Starfire, they’re alive. They’re perfect. You just…” Rule sighs, wrapping his arms around me. “You lost a lot of blood and there were a few complications.”

“Come on, why don’t we sit and talk while we can?” Ollie says, coming over and grabbing my hand.

He smiles at me, that adorable boy next door smile I fell in love with all those years ago, and I give him a teary smile back, following him when he leads me over to some hospital recliners nearby.

“I’ve missed all of you so much,” I say when I sit down and finally get to look at them all.

“We’ve missed you too, Princess. So damn much. I’m so sorry. It’s my fault we’re gone, and watching you suffer in the beginning because of my stupidity has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Not being able to hold you and comfort you when you needed it nearly broke me,” Van says, kneeling in front of me.

I run my fingers through his pretty locks and look at him with teary eyes.

“Stop beating yourself up, my love. Aren’t you supposed to be at peace and all that?” I tease, getting a small smile from him.

He gently runs his knuckles across my cheek, eyes roving over my features.

“They’ve been good for you. To you. You listened to us and found love again. Are you happy, Princess?”

My cheeks heat and I look down.

“I don’t know about love, but… yeah, I’m happy, Van. Forde has been so caring while pushing me to keep going. And going to the grief meetings with Link has helped a lot,” I say, looking over at Lake with a tentative smile.

He grins at me and nods his head.

“Rion is… things are new, but I like him. He’s really sweet,” I say, blushing even harder.

They all laugh at me and Rule pokes me in the side.

“Don’t get all shy on us, Starfire. We’ve seen it all. Even when you got all naughty with Forde on the couch,” he teases, waggling his brows and I groan, covering my face with my hands.

“Oh, gods. No, stop.”

---