Page 44 of The Pack

I didn’t want to admit it—not to them, and certainly not to myself—but they were starting to grow on me.

Magnus, with his calm authority, was impossible to ignore. He carried himself with an air of command, but there was a gentleness to him too. Like the way he tucked that flower behind my ear this morning, his fingers brushing my skin, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. The memory made my cheeks warm.

Callum was a different kind of warmth altogether. His easy smile, his constant effort to lighten the mood, and the way he seemed to know when I needed a moment of kindness. He was like a fire on a cold night—comforting, inviting, but just wild enough to keep things interesting.

Then there was Tobias, brooding, quiet, and fiercely protective. He was the one who noticed the details, who didn’t speak much but always seemed to know exactly what to do. He reminded me of a storm cloud—dark and foreboding, but hiding a spark of electricity that could light up the world if you got close enough.

Killian was… well, Killian. Sarcastic, wild, and absolutely maddening at times. But beneath his teasing grin and quick wit, there was something deeper, something raw and unpolished that drew me in. Like the jagged edges of broken glass, dangerous but impossible to look away from.

And Thorne. Thorne was a mystery all on his own. He was cold, calculating, and impossibly steady, like a rock in the middle of a raging river. But there was a quiet kindness to him, a weight to his presence that made me feel safer than I cared to admit.

I exhaled slowly, looking to each one of them in turn as they moved around the fire—Magnus and Tobias discussing the map, Killian and Callum bickering over something trivial, and Thorne sharpening his blade in silence.

What would it be like, I wondered, to be withall of them?

The thought hit me like a lightning bolt, my cheeks flushing as my heart raced. It was ridiculous, wasn’t it? Impossible.

Yet my traitorous mind refused to let it go.

Magnus’s hand at the small of my back, guiding me forward. Callum’s laugh, bright and unrestrained, as he pressed his forehead against mine. Tobias’s dark, smoldering gaze, his hand brushing my cheek. Killian’s lips, teasing and insistent, pulling me into his wild orbit with a kiss. And Thorne, always watching me with those icy blue eyes, seeing absolutely everything.

I bit my lip, heat pooling low in my stomach as the images flashed through my mind of when we’d first met, of them fucking me each in turn, and I blushed hard.

I shook my head, trying to push away such thoughts, but my mind kept turning right back to what it might be like to be with each one of them.

To truly be a part of their pack.

Not just as another member.

But as their mate.

Lost in my thoughts, I hardly noticed when the fire burned down to hot coals. I rubbed my arms and pulled Tobias’s cloak a bit tighter around my shoulders, the chill sinking into my skin despite the warmth of the fire.

Magnus noticed. He always did.

“You’ll be cold sleeping like that,” he said. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and knelt by the edge of the clearing, gathering thick tufts of moss and layering them into a soft, springy mat by the fire. Then he added a few more logs to the blaze to keep it burning.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I murmured sheepishly when he returned, his hands brushing off stray bits of moss as he stood.

Magnus arched an eyebrow, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “You’ve had a rough few days. Consider it a gesture of goodwill.”

I smiled back, surprised by how easily it came. “Thank you.”

He nodded, his expression softening as he laid the mat near the fire. “Get some rest. You’ll need it.”

When I went to lie down, the moss was softer than I expected, its faint, earthy scent grounding me. Magnus draped Tobias’s cloak over me, heavy and warm, and I found myself relaxing for the first time since I’d woken up in this strange, wild world.

I felt movement beside me and opened my eyes to see Magnus lowering himself onto the ground beside me. He lay close, his presence a steady, comforting weight against the chaos still swirling in my mind.

“You’ll be warmer this way,” he said quietly.

Before I could respond, I felt another presence on my other side. Callum settled down beside me, his boyish grin soft in the firelight.

“Magnus is right,” he said, tucking the edge of the cloak more securely around me. “We’ll keep you safe.”

The warmth of their bodies, their steady breaths beside me, was more comforting than I wanted to admit.

I closed my eyes, listening to the gentle crackle of the fire beside me. I was on the edge of sleep when Magnus shifted, his hand brushing lightly against my cheek.

---