Page 99 of Ruin Me Knot
And then the knowing of it cracks something open in me. Something new. Bright. Better. And suddenly, with stunning clarity, I understand the depth of my love for them.
I cup Ronan’s jaw. "I love you. I love all of you." The truth expands between us. "I love you so much it hurts."
Gabriel’s eyes glisten, a laugh bursting from him. "You sure you’re not still under the influence of anesthetic, Sweetheart?"
My throat tightens and my vision blurs with unshed tears. "I’m sure. I have never been surer of anything. I love you."
A charged hush settles, thick with the heat of everything unsaid. Ronan’s gaze locks on mine, his eyes hurricane-dark and unguarded. The air around him shifts with forest-rich crispness, as if his heart could pour itself directly through his skin. He frames my cheek with his warm, calloused palm. “I love you, Leah.” Every word comes rough and scraped. “I love you more than life. You are the missing piece of my heart.”
His scent wraps around me fierce, wild, and unmistakable. My bones know him, and the truth of him, as surely as I know my own name.
Jax crowds in, his touch gentle but uncontainable. Musky vanilla promises comfortable nights and soft dawns with the force of his joy. He rests his forehead against mine. “You’re my heart. You’re my family. There’s nothing I wouldn’t burn, nothing I wouldn’t become, just to keep you safe. I love you so much, Omega. Youhonor me.”
Gabriel’s grin breaks open into a wonder I’ve never seen on anyone’s face. Citrus explodes around me in a burst of light. “God, Leah, I love you.” He says it like a promise, like a prayer. “You changed everything. You made me belong. You’re everything I never even knew I needed, and I’ll spend my whole life loving you, if you let me.”
Their scents weave together, a bouquet spun from hope and longing and the kind of love that could never be faked. It settles on my tongue, pouring into every wound and every ragged place inside me. This is real. This is true. There’s no room for doubt; scents can’t lie.
"There’s something else." I push up a little in the bed. My Omega hums. She’s been waiting for my other half to catch up since the day they pulled me from hell. "I want to bond with you. All of you. I want that. If you’ll still have me?"
The air between us holds its breath in stunned silence.
Ronan bends his forehead to mine, fingers sliding to the back of my skull. "Are you… are you sure, Kitten? Don’t say yes because that’s what you think we want. We do. Gods we do! But this has to be your decision for yourself."
Jax grips my hand. "You have to be completely certain because you’re never getting rid of us. You’ll be stuck with us forever. Even the goofy one."
"Hey, watch who you call goofy!" Gabriel says with no weight in his words. All his heat is reserved for the look in his eyes as they burn for me.
"I didn’t say who was the goofy one, but if you put your hand up for the title…" Jax says.
"That’s enough, children. I’m waiting to hear if our Omega chooses not to get rid of us," Ronan rasps.
I can’t help laughing. "I don’t want to get rid of you. I want you. All of you. My Omega and I agree. We want to be yours. We want you to be ours."
Their faces shatter with blinding joy. Ronan’s kiss to my forehead is a vow. Jax buries his face in my hair, and Gabriel’s laughter fills the space with brightness. My Omega preens, smug and finally, perfectly satisfied. And there is nothing left of the wall I used to hide behind because I don’t need it anymore. I don’t even need the rubble under my feet.
"We’d be honored, Leah. When you’re recovered and strong, when you’re ready to claim us" Ronan turns liquid eyes to Jax and Gabriel, who nod, silent but so clearly in agreement. "We’ll be yours in every way. For now, sleep. Rest. Recover. Let us keep you safe. That’s all we want."
His words settle in me. Sleep tugs at my limbs, the effects of the anesthetic still flowing through me. My lids drop and I feel the warmth of their arms around me. For the first time, no fear snips at my back and the sleep I slip into is warm and calm.
I wake to the smell of breakfast and my mates. We share toast, fruit, cereal and it’s…easy. Beautiful. And I know in the hollow of my gut that I’ve made the right choice to bond with them. Any lingering doubt is washed out by certainty and care.
Yet there’s still a shadow over them. Finally, Ronan meets my gaze. "Our search for Hardwick was a bust. We… didn’t find her, Kitten. Asher’s organized for his officers to run another sweep through every possible location today, and we’re going to help them."
"Today?"
I don’t want them to go. Fear prickles up under my skin even with sunlight in the room and their hands still warm on me. For a moment I’m brittle and unsteady. Just the mention of Hardwick has shattered our easy peace.
Jax links our fingers. "I understand how you feel, Sunshine. We don’t want to leave you, not for a second." His thumb strokes over my knuckles. "But the only way to stop looking over our shoulders is to go after her before she has a chance to find a new hole to crawl into. We can’t live with her shadow waiting to fall on us. You deserve better. We all do."
His words settle in my chest, and it hurts, but it’s true. I want to be free with my Alphas, not caged by fear, even if that means letting them walk into danger now so we can have peace later.
I nod, swallowing hard. "I get it. I do. I just… I wish it was over already."
Ronan’s eyes are soft with promise. "We’ve arranged to have Mira’s garden above the penthouse all to ourselves tonight. Just us. No interruptions. How does ‘dinner under the stars hearing how much we love and adore you while we look over the city’ sound?"
The image blooms inside me: the city’s lights, a canopy of green, all my Alphas surrounding me, belonging with them where no shadow can touch us. Something like hope unfurls. "It sounds… perfect. I’ve never… had a real date." Embarrassment flushes my cheeks, but the truth wants out. "You’ll be my first."
Gabriel’s grin is pure mischief. "Then we’ll make damn sure it’s one you never forget."
