Page 132 of Bound By Alphas 1: Bound

“Satisfied?” Cade asked, his voice rough but amused as he pulled me against his chest.

“Very,” I replied, unable to keep the smugness from my tone. “Though I think next time we can do better.”

“Next time?” Logan echoed, his arm wrapping around my waist from behind. “Planning on running away again, little fox?”

“No,” I assured him, settling more comfortably between them as Keir completed our tangle of limbs. “No more running. I’m exactly where I want to be.”

We lay there in comfortable silence for a while, our breathing gradually slowing, the sweat cooling on our skin. The mate bond hummed between us, stronger and more vibrant than I’d ever felt it, a tangible connection that seemed to wrap around all four of us like a protective cocoon.

“Cade,” I said finally, a question that had been haunting me for years rising to the surface. “About what you said after the Augury. You really weren’t complaining about being mated to me?”

The three brothers exchanged a look over my head, understanding dawning in their expressions.

“Oh, little fox.” Cade sighed, his hand stroking my hair with gentle fingers. “Is that what you thought? That we were complaining about being mated to you?”

“What else was I supposed to think?” I asked, though the certainty I’d carried for four years was beginning to waver. “I heard you talking about how fate had a twisted sense of humor and how the bratty little fox was going to be more trouble than he was worth.”

“We weren’t talking about you being our mate,” Logan explained, his voice gentler than I’d ever heard it. “We were talking about a vision the council had received—a prophecy about supernatural danger.”

“The ‘bratty little fox’ comment was me being frustrated that you might be in danger,” he continued, looking slightly ashamed. “Not about you being our mate.”

“And fate’s ‘twisted sense of humor’ was about you being targeted by dark forces, not about us being mated to you,” Keir added, his thumb stroking the back of my hand. “We’ve never seen our bond as anything but a blessing.”

“Our ‘duty’ wasn’t an obligation,” Cade finished, his eyes meeting mine with an intensity that took my breath away. “It was a promise to protect you, to love you, to keep you safe no matter what.”

Could it be true? Had I spent four years running from a misunderstanding? From love disguised as concern?

“But you never said anything,” I whispered, still not quite ready to believe. “After the Augury, you just… kept your distance.”

“Because you were so young,” Cade explained, his expression pained. “Because we wanted to give you time to adjust, to understand what it meant. And then, when we finally thought you were ready…”

“I ran,” I finished, the realization hitting me like a punch to the gut. “Because I thought you didn’t want me. That I was just an obligation.”

“We’ve always wanted you,” Logan insisted, his hand finding my hip in a possessive grip. “Always loved you. Always needed you.”

“And now we’re never letting you go again,” Keir promised, his expression a mix of tenderness and determination that made my heart skip a beat.

The truth settled over me like a physical weight, years of misunderstanding and pain washing away in the face of their love. They had never seen me as a burden. Had never resented our bond. Had never wanted anything but me, exactly as I was.

“I’ve been an idiot,” I said, a slightly hysterical laugh bubbling up from my chest. “A complete and utter idiot.”

“Yes,” all three of them agreed in unison, though their smiles took any sting from the word.

“But you’re our idiot,” Cade added, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Our mate. Our Finn.”

“And we’re never letting you go again,” Logan repeated, his arm tightening around my waist in emphasis.

“Never,” Keir agreed, his fingers lacing with mine. “Not for a single day.”

I should have bristled at the possessiveness, the assumption of control over my future. Instead, I nodded, a sense of peace settling over me that I hadn’t felt in years.

“Okay,” I agreed, the word both a surrender and a homecoming. “Like I said, I’m done running.”

The relief in their expressions was palpable, as if a weight had been lifted from all of us. The misunderstandings, the separation, the pain of the past four years—all of it washed away in the certainty of our bond, our love, our future together.

But there was still something we needed to address—the reason they’d brought me to the stronghold in the first place.

“So what is this danger you were talking about?” I asked, looking between them. “The reason you kidnapped me from Seattle?”

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