Page 117 of Knot Happening

I can feel all three bonds in my mind now: Marcus's protective strength, Felix's creative love, and Theo's unwavering devotion all flowing together into something bigger and more beautiful than the sum of its parts. The sensation is overwhelming in the best possible way, like finally understanding a language I'd been hearing all my life without comprehension.

"How do you feel?" Theo asks softly, his fingers tracing the fresh mark on my throat.

"Complete," I tell him honestly. "Like every piece of the puzzle has finally clicked into place."

"The heat?"

I take mental inventory and smile at what I find. "Settled. Still there, but gentle now. Comfortable. Like my body finally trusts that it will be cared for."

"Good," Theo says, pressing a gentle kiss to my temple. "That's how it should be after the final bonding. Your omega instincts are satisfied now that you have your complete pack."

As if drawn by our conversation, Marcus and Felix move closer to the nest, and suddenly I'm surrounded by all three of them. Marcus settles on my left side, Felix on my right, while Theo remains locked inside me, all of them close enough to touch.

"How do you feel?" Marcus asks, his hand stroking through my hair. "Really feel?"

"Loved," I say immediately. "Protected. Cherished. Like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

"You are," Felix assures me, his fingers tracing gentle patterns on my arm. "Belle, you're the heart of our pack now. The center of everything."

"Can you feel all of us?" Theo asks quietly. "All three bonds?"

I close my eyes and reach out with my newfound awareness, marveling at what I find. "Yes," I whisper. "I can feel all of you. Marcus, your strength and determination and fierce protectiveness. Felix, your creativity and the way you see beauty in everything. Theo, your devotion and the way you'd do anything to keep me safe."

"And we can feel you," Marcus says softly. "Your intelligence and compassion and the way you make everything around you better just by existing."

"Is this what pack bond feels like?" I ask wonderingly. "This sense of being connected to something bigger than yourself?"

"This is what true pack bond feels like," Felix confirms. "Not just biological compatibility, but emotional and spiritualconnection. Belle, what we have is rare. Most packs never achieve this level of bonding."

"Because it requires complete trust," Theo adds, his arms tightening around me. "Complete vulnerability. The willingness to open yourself completely to another person's thoughts and feelings."

"Are you ever afraid?" I ask, sudden uncertainty making me wonder if I've asked too much of them. "Of being this connected? Of not having any secrets or private thoughts?"

"Never," Marcus says immediately. "Belle, loving you completely, being bonded to you this way—it's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"To all of us," Felix agrees. "You don't diminish us by being in our minds. You enhance us. You make us better than we were before."

"Besides," Theo says with a smile I can hear in his voice, "it's not like we don't have our own thoughts and privacy. The bond enhances connection, it doesn't erase individuality."

"But you'll always know how I'm feeling," I observe. "If I'm happy or sad or worried or scared."

"And you'll always know we love you," Marcus points out. "Belle, you'll never again have to wonder if you're wanted or valued or cherished. You'll feel it constantly, through three different bonds."

The truth of that makes my chest tight with emotion. After years of feeling like I was too much or not enough, of wondering if anyone could love me exactly as I am, I'll never again have to doubt my worth.

"What happens now?" I ask as Theo's knot finally begins to recede. "How does this work, practically speaking?"

"Whatever you want it to work like," Felix says immediately. "Belle, this is still your life. Your choices. Your decisions about what our future looks like."

"But we're hoping," Marcus adds carefully, "that you'll want to move in with us. Make our house your home too."

"Turn that guest bedroom into your office," Theo suggests. "Somewhere you can work on your library projects and writing."

"Keep your job if you want to," Felix adds. "Or change careers if that's what makes you happy. We'll support whatever you decide."

The casual acceptance, the way they're planning a future that centers my happiness and fulfillment, makes me want to cry with gratitude. "You really mean that. You want me to keep being myself, not become some domesticated omega who exists solely to serve the pack."

"Belle," Marcus says firmly, "we fell in love with you exactly as you are. Why would we want you to change?"

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