Page 74 of Knot Baked Out For This
"Thank you," I tell them. "All of you. For tonight."
"Anytime," Rowan says, echoing Levi's earlier word.
"Always," Luca adds quietly.
They wait until I'm in my car, doors locked, engine running, before heading to their own vehicles. Three Alpha guardians making sure I get home safe.
When did I become someone worth protecting?
I drive home in comfortable silence, exhaustion settling into my bones. My phone buzzes as I'm getting ready for bed.
Levi: Why don't ghosts like rain?
Me: Why?
Levi: It dampens their spirits!
Me: That's terrible.
Levi: Terribly brilliant. Also, you okay? Really?
I stare at the text, throat tight with emotion I don't know how to name.
Me: Yeah. Really. Thanks to you.
Levi: Anytime, sunshine. Sweet dreams. Try not to let the bed bugs bite. Or the ghosts. Ghost bugs? Is that a thing?
Me: Goodnight, Levi.
Levi: Night, Hazel.
I fall asleep with my phone in my hand, a smile on my face despite everything. The darkness doesn't seem as heavy tonight. Maybe because I know that if it gets too dark, someone will sit with me on the floor and sing terrible songs until the lights come back.
Maybe because for the first time in years, I don't feel alone in the dark.
Three Alphas. Three different kinds of safety.
Rowan who researched how to save me before I knew I needed saving. Levi who sits in the dark and sings off-key until the panic passes. Luca who fixes doors without being asked.
Each one seeing different broken pieces and choosing to help rather than judge.
Maybe that's what being courted really means. Not the flowers or the almost-kisses or the protective hovering. But thequiet moments when someone sees you at your worst and stays anyway.
My phone buzzes once more.
Rowan: Heard you had a rough moment tonight. You okay?
Me: Yeah. Levi helped.
Rowan: Good. Sleep well, Hazel. Tomorrow's a new day.
Luca: Your cookies were the hit of the night. Kids kept asking for the witch's bakery. You did good.
Three messages. Three different ways of saying they care.
I close my eyes, feeling safer than I have in years, even after an evening in a genuinely haunted house with a basement panic attack and a piano that definitely played itself twice.
Maybe being courted by three Alphas isn't the disaster I thought it would be.
