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Chapter thirty-seven

VIOLET

The night ends in a walk across the pier, a small piece of land that hits one of the lakes at the very edge of Ansdale. The distant lull of waves crashes against the docks, filling the space between footsteps and hushed voices. Somewhere nearby, laughter spills from late-night strollers, a moment that doesn’t belong to us. Further down the wharf, a street musician plucks out a slow tune, the melody weaving through the salty air like something half-forgotten.

Puma and Gray flank me, their heat pressing into my sides. Lips brush against my temple, my jaw, the shell of my ear, and it’s so fucking easy to melt between them, a little dazed, a little too comfortable in how effortlessly I fit here.

“Think we can keep her all to ourselves, Puma?” Gray murmurs against my skin, voice curling around the words. I elbow him in the ribs just to wipe that smug grin off his face.

Puma chuckles, his fingers tracing lazy circles at the small of my back. “Not a chance.”

Before Gray can respond, a delighted squeal cuts through the air, and Sofie steals him, fingers curling around his wrist as she tugs him toward the water, breathless laughs falling from her lips.

Lance is right behind them, running at full speed, grinning ear to ear. His movements are all reckless joy, broad shoulders shifting as he swoops Sofie up into his arms before she can tumble, spinning her once before setting her back on her feet. She shrieks, slapping at his arm, but the way she clings to him says she doesn’t mind one bit. Watching them, something deep in my chest settles. It’s such a different dynamic from when we first met.

It felt like I was trying to keep myself from falling apart, hoping and praying that Sofie would have the help she needed. And now, I’m slowly falling in love with the men around me. I look around, searching for the missing Alpha, Hawk sitting on one of the benches a few feet away. His arms are stuffed into his pockets, a tight smile on his face, his gaze focused on the three playing at the edge of the water.

Something calls to me, a need to sit beside him, to explore this growing thing between us. It feels both awkward and comfortable as my knee grazes his thigh, my hands twisting in my lap for several seconds before I manage to say something. “You good?”

His lips twitch, barely there. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Feels like you’re thinking real hard about something.”

He manages a shrug, his scent wrapping around me, providing that same comfort from before. “I’m the quiet twin, Vi. Doesn’t mean I don’t see everything.”

I shift, turning fully toward him. “And what exactly do you see?”

“I see Sofie falling harder for us than she realizes. I see Lance already gone for her, in a way I don’t think he’s ever been for anyone.” His gaze flicks toward me, something unspoken moving behind it. “And I see you, sitting here, trying to figure out where you fit into all of it.”

It’s like he cracked me open, dug through all the shit I wasn’t sure how to put into words, and laid it bare in the salt-stained air between us.

“You’re thinking too much about it,” Hawk says. “Trying to figure out where we go from here, what the next steps are. You’re worried about Sofie, about yourself, about the pack—when all you really need to do is just be here.”

My throat tightens, something thick lodging itself behind my ribs. “That easy, huh?”

A flicker of amusement passes over his face, gone just as quickly. “Nothing about this is easy. But it’s not meant to be a goddamn war, either.”

He’s right. I don’t know why I thought it had to be complicated. Why I thought I had to plan every step like I was bracing for a fallout that might never come. Maybe it’s just instinct. Maybe it’s just me. I really look at him this time, and for the first time since meeting him, I realize—Hawk isn’t just the quiet twin. He isn’t just the one who lets Lance do all the talking, lets him play buffer between the world and whatever sharp edges he’s keeping tucked away.

He sees me . Like he’s stripping me bare with nothing but his words.

He leans forward, elbows resting on his knees, fingers laced together, the muscles in his shoulders tight. “I let Lance do all the talking,” he muses. “He’s the charmer, always has been. People love him. He makes friends in an instant, gets into their good graces without even trying.” His exhale is sharp, his head shaking slightly. “Me?” A humorless chuckle under his breath. “I like the work. The hunt. Finding the pieces no one else sees.” His gaze flicks to mine, steady, searching. “I don’t do well with people.”

I raise a brow, watching the way his jaw flexes. “You seem fine to me.”

His lips twitch, but it doesn’t stick. “You don’t count.”

A soft breath of laughter pushes past my lips. “Why’s that?”

“Because you don’t expect me to be something I’m not.”

I study him, my gaze tracing the sharp cut of his features, the way the moonlight catches the angles of his face. His expression is unreadable, carefully blank, but his posture isn’t. His body is tense, wound up tight, like there’s something inside of him coiled and waiting.

Hawk exhales through his nose, like he’s coming to terms with something. “I don’t do well with emotions either. Lance says it’s because I don’t let people in. That I let myself care, but not in a way people understand.” His fingers twitch, brushing against my knee. “But I do care, Vi. And I don’t want to do this half-assed. I don’t want to be good at this in a way that makes sense to anyone else.” A pause. Then—“I want to be selfish.”

Something tightens in my chest. “Selfish?”

His jaw ticks, his eyes locked on mine. “With you. With Sofie.”

“Hawk…”

He shakes his head once, like I don’t need to say whatever it is I think I should. “Sofie’s easy,” he says, quieter now, like he’s treading into unfamiliar territory. “She’s already madly in love with you.”

That makes me smile, because yeah. She is. Sofie is love in its purest, wildest form, throwing herself headfirst into the people she wants without hesitation. But Hawk looks at me like I matter in a way I don’t think I’ve ever let myself believe. I try to joke, try to ease the weight of whatever this moment is. “You think Sofie’s already madly in love with you too?”

His lips twitch, but his eyes don’t waver. “I’m not talking about her.” My breath catches. He shifts then, turning toward me fully, one arm now draped along the back of the bench, the other resting on his knee. His fingers flex, his shoulders shift, like he wants to reach for me but won’t let himself just yet. “I’m talking about you.”

The air in my lungs vanishes, my pulse stuttering against my ribs. Hawk has been the quiet one. The gruff, brooding twin who lets everyone else take the lead. But now he’s looking at me like he’s done watching. Like he’s been holding this in and finally decided to do something about it.

“I’ve wanted you since the second I walked into that gallery. But you looked at Lance first. You looked at him, then you looked at Sofie, and I told myself it didn’t matter. That it wouldn’t matter.” His throat bobs, jaw clenched tight. “But it does. I don’t know how to do this.” His voice drops lower, something almost hesitant. “Not like Lance. Not like Gray or Puma. But I know I don’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore.”

A sharp exhale forces its way out of me, my fingers dragging through my hair before resting against the bench, gripping the edge. “Hawk—”

“Tell me if I’m wrong.” His words come fast, like he needs to say them before I stop him. “Tell me if I’ve been reading this all wrong, and I’ll drop it. But if I haven’t—”

I don’t let him finish. Fingers curling into his shirt, I drag him toward me, closing the distance before I can think better of it. His mouth crashes against mine, heat and desperation bleeding into every second. His hands are on me instantly, gripping my waist, pulling me closer, and then I’m in his lap, thighs bracketing his hips as his fingers tangle in my hair. He groans against my mouth, his grip tightening, his body pressing up into mine, and fuck waiting because I want this too.

“We can take this at our own pace,” he mumbles against my lips as he pulls away slightly. “I’m not in a rush, Vi. This isn’t a fleeting thing for me.” A slow drag of his thumb along my hip makes my skin tighten, makes my breath stutter. He traces the hem of my shirt absently, his voice dipping into something softer. “The first few times I saw you, I was amazed at your tenacity.” His lips twitch, the barest flicker of a smile in the dark. “How sharp you were. How relentless.”

A huff of air slips past my lips, shaking my head. “That’s a nice way of saying I’m a pain in the ass.”

His grip tightens, the weight of his hands pressing firm against me. “It’s a nice way of saying I was fucking captivated. And then I found out how much you’ve done for Sofie, how much you’ve given up, how much you’ve fought to make sure she never had to go without. And I was so goddamn proud of you, Vi.”

“Hawk…”

He shakes his head, dragging a hand through my hair, settling his palm against the back of my neck. His thumb strokes along my skin, like he needs the contact as much as I do. “Those feelings morphed into something else before I could stop them. Something I didn’t know how to deal with. And that first night with Sofie…” His chest rises and falls against mine, his fingers pressing lightly against the back of my neck. He’s weighing something, deciding how much to say, how much to let me see. “She wasn’t the only one searching for that extra scent,” he finally exhales.

My stomach twists. “What?”

“You were all over her, Vi. Your scent clung to her like a second skin. It was everywhere.” His throat bobs. “And I couldn’t stop myself from reaching for it. From licking it off her skin, from imagining your taste on my tongue mixed with hers. She might have gotten to you first that night but she wasn’t the only one looking for you.”

I had spent so much time making sure Sofie was okay. So much time convincing myself that I was fine, that I didn’t need anything, that whatever happened between us—whatever happened with the pack—was something I could handle from the outside. It never occurred to me that someone had been looking for me. That each and every one of these men had been reaching for me, searching for me, wanting me in all different ways.

Fingers still curled tight in his shirt, I don’t even realize I’m shaking slightly until he moves, brushing his lips against mine in another slow, deliberate kiss. Then he pulls back, just enough to speak, his forehead pressing against mine. “You’re the strongest person I know,” he murmurs, voice like gravel and honey. “And I don’t know anyone else I’d rather have at my side than you. You’re going to be my Beta too, Violet.”

The gravely depth of his voice melts away as he attacks my lips and I sink into his embrace. His fingers dig into my hips, a small cry falling from my lips as he rocks me over his lap. This is dangerous in all the right ways, need creeping through me as his cock thickens against the apex of my thighs. “We shouldn’t,” I breathe against his lips but Hawk isn’t listening to me.

His lips dip to the curve of my neck, my entire body lighting up from the inside. “Tell me Gray was wrong. That you don’t like to play a little bit. That you aren’t the very embodiment of trouble when you let yourself be happy.”

A strangled sound comes from my lips as he pulls me further down onto his lap so that I can feel every last part of him. “He—fuck, he wasn’t wrong but Sofie—” He’s still directing my hips, driving me mad, driving me to an orgasm in the middle of the fucking wharf. My fingers curl tighter into his chest, a gasp tearing from his throat as I try to keep my wits about me.

“Taken care of. Give me a better excuse.”

“Puma—”

“Loves watching.”

I twist around, eyes wide, Puma standing a few feet away. His eyes are nearly molten black, a grin spreading across his lips. His scent is just as strong as Hawk’s, my gaze raking over him and falling to the bulge between his thighs. My breath catches as I realize how much these two men want this. How much I want this.

Hawk resumes his kisses up and down my neck as I fall against his chest, letting him give me the pleasure I so desperately need. I don’t even care that someone could walk past us, the little pants falling from my lips disappearing into the night air. “Fuck, Hawk. I’m going to…”

“I know. If I thought we wouldn’t get in trouble, I would stuff you with my cock and fuck you right here on the beach while Puma watches.”

I moan, trying not to show Hawk just how much I love that idea. But my damn scent has other ideas, Hawk chuckling into my neck.

“You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”

“No,” I answer just a little too quickly. Hawk takes it as a challenge, his purr rumbling through his chest, adding to the pleasure thrumming between my thighs. My pussy is clenching around nothing, my body demanding to be filled but I’m not doing it on the beach. Sand is the one place I won’t fuck someone. And just as I’m on the cusp of an orgasm, Hawk completely stills.

His hands keep me from moving, from finding the friction I need, a low whine tearing from my throat as I dig my nails into his chest. “Seriously?”

“Are you going to let yourself be loved, Violet? Are you going to let us take care of you, let us see all of you?” One of his hands moves to caress my cheek, his thumb running across the flushed skin. His voice drops a few octaves, his lips hovering over mine. “Trouble, will you be mine?”

“God, yes.” I’m not even sure why I was holding out for so long, Hawk resuming his pace. Puma takes a seat beside us, roughly gripping my chin and dragging me into a tongue-licking kiss. Seconds later, I’m coming apart on Hawk’s lap, Puma swallowing the moan that follows.

I sag against Hawk, trying to catch my breath even as these men caress and kiss me, telling me that I’m theirs. Sofie’s giggles sound in the distance but I’m content to sit right here, both of their purrs rumbling through me, lulling me into a wistful sleep.