Page 118 of Protect Me

I don’t argue with him because some small part of me knows he’s right. Still... “My power has been used to manipulate.”

“It can also be used to heal,” Killian reminds me. “You helped Liv with the birth.” I recall the relief she’d felt when I unlocked the darkness from her mind. The part of her that whispered horrible things about what a terrible mother she’d be. I helped her move past those doubts and right into the love and affection she carried beneath it all.

“The power isn’t good or bad,” Duncan says quietly. “We get to choose how we use what we’re given.”

Something inside me lifts at his words. I think he’s right. I want him to be right. “But at the carnival,” I say, still hesitating as I look back at Bracken. “I cheated. I... couldn’t help my power surging. Couldn’t control it.”

“That’s because you’d locked it away,” Bracken says. “You stopped letting it be a part of you. Stop fighting it, and take back your control over it.”

“I don’t know how,” I whisper.

“We’ll be here to show you.” The hope that shines in Bracken’s eyes as he says the words is like a beacon drawing me in.

“He offered me a place here.”

“A contract?” Duncan questions.

I shake my head. “A family.” My throat constricts, emotion burning me from the inside out.

Killian smiles so brilliantly it nearly blinds me with love. “And you said yes.”

“He didn’t give me much of a choice,” I say with a chuckle. “Since you all were planning to abandon him.”

“I assumed he knew.” Duncan shakes his head.

“Not much gets past D,” Bracken agrees. “Will you stay with us, then?” he asks as he ushers me toward the couch and pushes me down near Duncan. I sit beside him as he wraps an arm around my shoulders.

The idea of staying here with them—of being loved by them for the rest of my life—brings me more joy than I ever thought possible. “If you’ll have me.”

“Fuck yes we will.” Killian drops to a knee and Bracken kneels beside him. “Ignore Duncan, he’s too broken to join us.”

Duncan glares at him, but Killian merely grins. Then Duncan moves enough to reach into his pocket, withdrawing a small ring with a citrine stone settled in the center of a trio of diamonds. “Will you marry us, Sway? Be our mate? Our family?”

Tears stream down my cheeks as I stare at the piece of jewelry. Not too long ago, I wore a ring on the same finger they are asking me to slide that one on.

The difference, though? This isn’t a shackle given with strings attached. It’s a promise offered to me freely.

Freedom.

Hope.

Love.

That’s what Bracken, Killian, and Duncan are offering me.

“Yes. I will absolutely marry you guys.”

Duncan beams and slips the ring onto my finger. I stare down at it as Bracken moves to the couch on my other side, and Killian settles between my legs, the three men closing me in just as the citrine is shielded by the diamonds.

Four pieces that make up a whole future of possibilities. All of them shining brightly with joy I never thought I’d experience.

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