Page 181 of Scavenger's Oath

We stay like that for a long moment, the four of us breathing as one.

Rain drums on the window as her breath warms my throat. For the first time in days, I let my eyes close.

As I shift her gently back against the pillows, Phoenix wipes her tears with shaky fingers, then smooths her hair back down like it’s his duty. Myles tucks the blanket back around her legs, stroking them softly as if apologising for pinning them.

“You’re home,” I whisper. “We’vegot you.”

Epilogue 1

Ivy

Two years later

The ranch is quiet tonight. Warm lamplight from the kitchen casting soft shadows across the walls. The smell of fresh bread already luring my darling monsters out of hiding.

Dinner’s almost ready.

Our baby, Skye, is in the main house with her Auntie Reese tonight. So I’ve been slow cooking a rabbit stew all day to spoil my men.

The barn creaks softly—old bones we renovated when we first arrived here. A low whistle of night air slips through the cracks. Two years ago, that sound would’ve had me clutching a knife under the table.

Now it brings a peace that sinks deep into my chest.

The time has gone in a heartbeat. Except those first few weeks. They crawled.

When my body finally stopped screaming, I wanted them. Wanted to drown Derek’s ghost in the heat of their hands. But they held back, too scared of breaking something they’d fought to save.

It took wit to convince them. Phoenix was more difficult since he feared his dominance might trigger me. But once he sawhow I relished it, he helped me wrangle Myles and Zane too.

Sure, there were a few missteps along the way, but our commitment was rewarded tenfold.

And when we were ready to begin our journey, we were hopeful.Naïve.

The road was hell. No matter how they tried to soften it, a truck is still a truck. Diesel, exhaustion, and arguments hashed out in the dark.

Zane barely slept, more absorbed with keeping watch. But Myles held me together. His focus was always on me, my comfort, my needs. He even took punishments from Phoenix for me when he disagreed with him.

Phoenix turned into a drill sergeant. Overbearing. Controlling. Barking orders so tight I could barely breathe.

Until one night, he switched tactics. It was like opening a gate and giving me all this open space to roam free. And suddenly, I didn’t feel like I needed to test the fences anymore.

When I hated my own skin, the way Bennett and Derek left me carved and ruined, they never looked at me like I was broken.

The scars on my back pull faintly as I stretch, but they don’t bother me anymore.

Now I’m barefoot on cool stone, woodsmoke in the air. Fresh bread warm on the counter, crust crackling beneath my palms as I slice through it.

The hem of Phoenix’s shirt brushes my thighs as I reach for a plate. Reese gave me clothes but honestly, I prefer wearing theirs. And I love what it does to them.

I hum without meaning to, crumbs sticking to my fingertips. So at ease, it takes me a second to realise the room behind me has gone silent.

That’s the thing about living with predators. The shift comes in the quiet. The air thickens, prickling up my neck, hairs rising.My body senses it before my brain catches up.

All that chaos has forged something unbreakable. I learned to trust them. To obey when they told me to hide. I know the sound of their footsteps like my own heartbeat.

Myles is pacing somewhere behind me, breathing just a little too hard. Phoenix is by the counter, still as a beast before it pounces. Zane’s always quietest when he’s watching, but I can feel the weight of their gazes like flames licking over my skin.

A shiver moves down my spine. It’s not fear. Not exactly. But my heartrate picks up, instincts telling me to run.