Page 58 of Daisy
His hand finds my arm. Warm through my shirt. The touch sends something calm through my alpha, settling the restless energy that's been eating at me since we left. The bond between us pulses in my chest, familiar and solid. One year of him teaching me that good things don't always get ripped away.
But this is different. Bigger.
I don't know how to do this. Don't know how to be around something so fragile without breaking it.
"Scent match," I say. Testing the words. "All of us."
"I know." There's wonder in his voice. Like he can't believe it either.
"What's it mean? For us."
The question sits heavy. What happens when fate decides you're supposed to share? What happens when that someone is everything you want but everything you'll ruin?
August thinks. I feel it through the bond. His mind working, careful and slow.
"Means we're lucky," he says finally.
"Lucky?" Tastes bitter. "She's terrified of me. Might always be."
"Maybe." He's honest. Always honest. "But you'll be the one she turns to when she needs you the most."
"How can you know that?"
"Because you're the one who shows up when it matters."
I remember the night we met. That alpha touching him. The rage that filled me, clean and simple. The certainty that I'd kill before I let him get hurt.
"That was different."
"Was it?" August shifts, faces me. "You saw someone in danger and you acted. No thinking. Just protecting."
The city comes into view. Smoke still rising. My stomach clenches.
"What if I'm too much for her?"
The words scrape my throat. August goes quiet.
"Then we take it slow," he says. "As slow as you both need."
I want to believe him. Want to trust that I won't fuck this up with my own hands.
"You'll have to share me," I say. The words feel strange coming out.
"I know," August says quietly.
"Doesn't that scare you?"
August considers. His scent warms, like he's almost laughing.
"You want to know what scares me?" he asks.
I nod.
"Losing you to feral rage. Watching you disappear because your alpha needs something I can't give." His fingers thread through mine. "She doesn't threaten us, Cass. She saves us."
The truth hits hard, settles deep in my bones. All those nights clawing at my own skin. The restless energy that felt like dying slow. The growing certainty that the madness would take me like it took my father.
But it went quiet when I scented her. Like something missing finally clicked into place. Like my alpha finally found what it was searching for.
