Page 69 of Holly Jolly Heat
"Callie—"
"GO. Before you talk yourself out of it. Love you, bye!"
She ended the call before I could argue.
I sat in the quiet kitchen, hot chocolate forgotten, my mind spinning.
She was right. God, she was right about everything.
I was falling. Had been falling since Pike Place Market, maybe even before. Six months of emails with Ro, building trust and connection without knowing it was pack. Months of managing Lucas, fighting for him like he was family. Six days of having all three of them in my life, in my space, showing me what pack could be.
And I was still trying to control it. Still trying to maintain walls that had already crumbled. Still trying to protect myself from something that was already happening.
I heard a sound from the hallway.
Footsteps. Soft, trying to be quiet.
Then Lucas appeared in the kitchen doorway, hair messed up from sleep, wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt, his cedar-vanilla scent flooding the space.
"Michelle?" He took in my tears, the forgotten hot chocolate, my phone still on the counter. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "I was talking to Callie. About... everything."
"At three AM?"
"She knew I'd be awake."
Lucas moved into the kitchen slowly, giving me space to retreat if I needed. "Want to talk about it?"
Before I could answer, more footsteps announced Ro's arrival. Then Dex.
All three of them, appearing in my kitchen at three in the morning like they'd sensed I needed them.
Pack.
"Michelle's crying," Lucas told them. "She was on the phone with Callie."
"Are you hurt?" Dex asked immediately, moving closer to assess.
"No, I'm—" I stopped, looking at the three of them. My three alphas, concerned and protective and here. "I'm not hurt. I'm just... processing."
"Processing what?" Ro asked gently.
And something in me just broke open.
"This," I said, gesturing between us. "You. Pack. The fact that I've been fighting something that's already happened. The fact that I'm in love with all three of you and it's only been six days and that's insane but it's true and I don't know what to do with that."
Silence.
Complete, utter silence.
Lucas's eyes went wide. Ro's expression transformed into something soft and wondering. Dex went very still, like he was afraid any movement would spook me.
"Say something," I whispered. "Please say something because I just confessed my feelings and you're all just staring and?—"
Lucas moved first.
He crossed the kitchen in three strides and pulled me into his arms, holding me tight against his chest while his cedar-vanilla scent wrapped around me like home.
