Page 169 of Psycho Pack

He pulls back just enough to meet my gaze, his eyes searching mine. "So, does this mean...?"

"Yes." I take a deep breath, steeling myself. It's now or never. "I love you too, you insufferable idiot."

The grin that spreads across his face is brighter than the sun. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." I can't help but smile back, feeling lighter than I have in years. "Goddess help me, but I do."

I haven't believed in her for so long.

And I still don't.

Logically, I know it's just my imagination.

But as we stand there on the balcony, embracing each other with our foreheads pressed together in full view of Surhiira in the shadow of the statue of our Heavenly Mother, I swear her eyes are twinkling.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

IVY

Iwake with a start, my heart racing as I try to remember where I am. The soft silk sheets against my skin feel foreign, and for a moment, panic claws at my throat as I struggle to piece together how I got here.

Then it all comes flooding back.

Surhiira.

The palace.

The royal dinner.

I'm in the guest wing, surrounded by my alphas.

Their familiar scents wash over me, soothing my anxiety. Wraith's massive arm is draped protectively across my waist, his scarred face buried in my hair. Thane is pressed against my back, his steady breathing tickling my neck. Whiskey and Valek are sprawled out nearby, their limbs tangled together in a way that would be comical if it weren't so endearing that they're tolerating each other to that extent.

But someone's missing.

Plague.

He was here when we all fell into bed, exhausted from the events of the past few days.

Where did he go?

As I glance groggily around the room, a flicker of movement by the window catches my eye. Plague stands there, silhouetted against the pale light of dawn. He's already dressed in his white princely uniform, a matching scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face. As I watch, he turns slightly, and I see his sharp profile outlined by the soft glow of sunrise.

He looks... different.

Lighter somehow, like some of the weight he's been carrying has finally been lifted from his shoulders.

As if sensing my gaze, Plague turns fully toward me. His eyes crinkle a bit at the corners. He's smiling beneath that scarf. It's a soft, genuine expression I've rarely seen from him.

My heart does a little flip in my chest.

I carefully extricate myself from the tangle of limbs surrounding me, moving as quietly as I can to avoid waking the others. They shift and grumble and growl in their sleep, but thankfully, they don't fully wake up.

They need the rest after everything we've been through.

Plague holds out his hand as I approach, and I take it without hesitation. His skin is cool against mine as he pulls me close, wrapping an arm around my waist and resting his chin on my head. We stand there in comfortable silence, watching as the sun creeps higher over the impossible white spires of Surhiira.

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