Page 91 of Ruin Me Knot
Shock steals the air from my lungs and I freeze. For a heartbeat, I can only stare, drinking them in. How vividly real they are. Awe and disbelief crash through me because a part of mehadlost hope I would ever see them again. The part of me that died a little each day at the Facility.
I set that shame aside to deal with later. In the end we all made it.
Wemade it.
"Leah—oh, Gods—Leah!" Mira rushes forward and Emma’s moving beside her, and then we’re colliding in a tangle of arms and hair and frantic, clutching hands. Our bodies crash together, laughter and sobs jumbling until I can’t tell whose tears are whose, our cheeks wet, our shoulders trembling. Mira buries her face in my neck, her arms locked around me so tightly I nearly gasp, and Emma hugs us both from the side, their scents winding through me.
"I thought I’d never see you again," I choke, voice splintering. "I almost… gave up."
Emma shakes her head, tears sparkling on her lashes. "It doesn’t matter. We kept hoping for you. We said every single night Leah’s coming back. She has to."
Mira pulls back just enough to cup my cheeks, studying me like she’s memorizing the shape of my bones. "You’re really here. You’re…" Her voice cracks; her thumb swipes away a tear I didn’t feel fall. "I can hardly believe this isn’t a dream. You’re here. You’re real!"
I understand the unreality of this moment. They’re still my girls, still the souls who held my hand in the dark at Haven, but they’re changed, too. They’ve filled out: soft healthy curves where starvation once carved harsh angles under their skin. Their faces are alive with color, and beneath that, theyglow. They’re radiant, happiness pouring from them. My eyes catch on the silvery marks at the base of Mira’s throat, her bond scar. Emma’s, too, just visible above the collar of her shirt.
That’s all we ever asked for. We didn’t need the world handed to us. Or money. Or unlimited belongings.
We just wanted to be loved, and love in return.
"You both look…Gods, you look good." My voice breaks with awe and longing. "You’re both so beautiful. I can’t believe this is real."
Mira hugs me again, hard enough to drive the air from my lungs. "You made it, Leah. You made it back to us."
Emma squeezes my arm, voice all gentle wonder. "We missed you every single day. It’s never been right without you."
All I can do is stand and hold them, shaking, laughter and tears spilling over, overwhelmed by the impossible miracle of having found each other again. I soak up the feel of them, the proof that we survived and became something better, and let it make a home in my heart.
A huge Alpha with close-cropped brown hair appears from the direction of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dish towel. His shoulders are broad enough to block half the hallway, and his eyes are warm and steady as his focus comes to rest on Emma. "Lunch is ready. Would you all like to eat in here, or out in the garden?"
Emma’s face blooms with a delighted grin. She closes the distance with a quick hop and rises on her toes to kiss his cheek. There’s no mistaking the ease between them. "Leah, this is Soren. One of my Alphas. And the best cook in existence."
I remember Soren too, looking a hell of a lot different here today than at the gala. Relaxed and open instead of the angel of death. Soren’s smile is indulgent as he looks down at her. "I’ll have to tell Phoenix you said that, and you know how he gets." There’s a drowsy, inordinately pleased note in his voice.
Emma giggles. Actuallygiggles. "Don’t you dare. I wasn’t trying to start trouble."
"Too late. Just be prepared for food wars tonight. You know Phoenix is going to try and outdo me now." Soren laughs.
Mira groans and shakes her head. "That’s if Adrian lets them in the kitchen."
"It’s going to be a battleground," Emma says.
Soren swoops Emma up in one effortless motion, earning a squeal that turns quickly into a delighted laugh as he kisses her soundly. "Let the food wars begin. I’m up for any challenge." His tenderness is so open it leaves me aching. A good ache, the kind that says these women have found their personal heaven.
Mira nestles into Zane’s side. His arm circles her waist, her head tucked briefly against his chest. She’s smiling over Emma’s joy and then I sense a hot, unwavering gaze cast in my direction. Gabriel’s eyes are on me, burning with the hunger reserved for when it’s just us. The promise in his look finds its echo in my belly, sharp and wanting, and my skin prickles with anticipation.
Later.
Later I’ll show them everything I can’t voice in this sun-bright room.
My heart steadies in this peace. "I just want to feel sunlight on my face. Lunch in the garden sounds like bliss."
I had no idea the garden would be Mira’s personal garden on top of her penthouse. It’s beautiful and private and no one can be here except us. Hours pass as we reunite. I’m both destroyed, saddened, and awed as my friends begin tracing the map of their last two years. Listening to what happened to them leaves me turned inside out, grief dogging the edges of every laugh, awe pressing at my chest when I see how much they’ve claimed for themselves.
Emma places her drink back on the small table between us. "I thought I’d never be safe anywhere, but my Alphas didn’t stop showing me they are my safe place. They freed me."
Mira’s eyes shine as she smiles at Zane who is chatting to Gabriel and Soren, then to me. "I fought my Alphas too," she says, brushing hair behind her ear. "I didn’t know they were my scent-matches. Or what that even meant. Mercer and Hardwick kept so much from us.So much."
The truth is, they shaped us to be slaves. To grind us down to be nothing but shells, and the Alphas who would have bought us were no better.
