Page 62 of Knot Their Safe Haven

I was thirty-nine years old, dying, and playing chess with the hearts of everyone who'd ever claimed to love me.

Staring at my hands, I tried to think of everything that was now weighing on my shoulders, but I realized it was really exhausting to even try.

"She needs rest," one of the twins said softly. "Real rest, not pretending to sleep while processing trauma."

He was right.

Exhaustion pulled at me, the kind that came from emotional warfare rather than physical healing.

"We'll be here," Alexis said, standing gracefully. "All of us. When you wake up, when you're ready to talk about what comes next, we'll be here."

She really did give Alpha authority vibes, but I loved that feminine tenderness she projected, as if she could truly understand my predicament, which was truthfully nice. She didn’t have any “female” friends, mostly because she never had enough time to keep these friendships thriving with how unpredictable the haven was.

What would it be like dating a female Alpha though…

It felt taboo, but I also felt a tad eccentric about it.

A younger Alpha, older Alpha twins, and a female Alpha…

"Why?" The question escaped my lips before I could stop it. "Why are you giving me this golden chance. You don't know me."

"No," Alessandro admitted. "But we know what it's like to be failed by people who should have protected you. We know what it's like to build your own family when blood isn't enough. And we know what it's like to see something worth saving and actually save it, instead of just talking about it."

They filed out slowly, leaving just Alessandro.

He adjusted my blankets, checked the water pitcher, all the small caretaking gestures that Knox had always been too rough for, that Malcolm only did in darkness, and that Adyani performed from across oceans.

"The first chess piece has made its move," he said quietly, and I wondered if he'd heard my thought or if we just thought alike.

"What's the endgame?" I whispered.

He smiled, and it was sharp as winter.

"You tell me. You're the one playing. It’s time to make your first move."

Then he was gone too, leaving me alone with monitors, memories, and the knowledge that I'd just destroyed twenty years of careful balance in five minutes of calculated cruelty.

But they'd left me to die.

All their love, devotion, and careful dancing—and they'd left me to die rather than claim me.

So maybe cruelty was exactly what they deserved.

The first chess piece had indeed made its move.

Now to see if the kings would fall, or if pawns could somehow cross the board to claim the ultimate queen.

The real game begins…

WHY THE FUCK NOT?

~VELVET~

The beeping pulls me from darkness—steady, rhythmic, but wrong somehow.

Not the sharp clinical chirp of hospital monitors but something softer, almost melodic. My eyes open to golden light that shouldn't exist in any medical facility.

Glass.