Page 103 of Claimed By My Exiled Alphas

We spent the rest of the evening making plans. Discussing how to convert one of the bedrooms into a nursery. Talking about schedules and coordination and how we’d handle the bistro when I was further along. Cassian immediately started making lists of things we’d need, doctors we should consult, preparations that should be made. Hollis talked about his grandmother’s advice on child-rearing, filtered through his careful memory. Jace just couldn’t stop touching my stomach, even though there was nothing to see yet, marveling that there was a life growing there that belonged to all of us.

Late that night, curled in our nest with all three of them surrounding me, I thought about the journey that had brought us here. From Chicago and shame and broken confidence to Hollow Haven and healing and this impossible gift of pack. From Vincent’s manipulation to these three men who saw me clearly and loved what they found.

“Thank you,” I said into the darkness, knowing they were all still awake through the bonds.

“For what?” Jace asked.

“For choosing me. For being patient while I learned to trust. For building this life with me.”

“Thank you for letting us,” Hollis said. “For being brave enough to try something unconventional.”

“For giving us a family,” Cassian added. “Blood or chosen or both, you gave us family.”

Through the bonds I felt what each of them was feeling. Jace’s uncomplicated joy at the pregnancy and our future.Hollis’s quiet contentment at filling his grandmother’s house with the life she’d always wanted. Cassian’s fierce protectiveness mixed with wonder that he’d been given this second chance at belonging.

And my own overwhelming gratitude that I’d been brave enough to come back to Hollow Haven. Brave enough to let three alphas in despite my fear. Brave enough to build something unconventional because it felt right, even when it would have been easier to stay safe and alone.

I’d come here to escape my past and rebuild my career. I’d found so much more. I’d found a pack. I’d found home. I’d found three men who made me believe in love again, who showed me what healthy relationships actually looked like, who gave me back my confidence and my dreams and my future.

The Hearthstone Bistro was thriving. The house on Maple Street was filled with laughter. And in seven months, there would be a pup to complete our family. A child who’d grow up knowing they were wanted and loved and surrounded by a pack who’d chosen each other intentionally.

“I love you,” I said to all three of them. “So much.”

“We love you too,” they responded in variations, and through the bonds I felt the truth of it echoing back threefold.

Outside, October wind rustled through the garden Hollis tended. Inside, pack bonds hummed with contentment and anticipation. And between my ribs, my heart felt full enough to burst with the weight of everything I’d been given when I’d thought I had nothing left to lose.

I’d thought I was running away from my life when I came to Hollow Haven.

Turns out I’d been running toward it all along.