Page 64

Home.

Funny how one small word can hold so much weight.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever understand it—what home felt like. Stability, warmth, safety—they’d always been elusive, something others had and I could only long for.

But here, deep within the Evergloom, surrounded by the strangest of companions, I’ve finally found it. Not the kind of home I’d ever imagined—but exactly the one my soul had craved. The loneliness I’d once felt is just a distant echo, of someone who was ruled by fear. Now I have the constant strength of the bond in my chest, my heart, and I have never felt so alive.

The burrow is warm, dappled in a gentle glow from the pink-veined walls. The fire in the hearth crackles steadily, its light casting dancing shadows across the space as something savory bubbles in the pot over it.

Hudson is at the makeshift kitchen counter, sleeves rolled up, brow furrowed in concentration. “No, you can’t flip that with a knife—Steo, stop trying to assist like that. That’s… that’s not helpful.”

Steo stands at his side, eerily graceful even as he looks completely out of his depth, one hand lifted like he’s about to smite whatever’s in the pan into submission. His shadows flit about, buzzing with mischief, one even creeping toward the butter like it might slather itself in it. They’re bright pink again, which somehow makes the chaos oddly charming.

“I was attempting efficiency,” Steo says with perfect seriousness. “The spatula failed me.”

“It didn’t fail you, you tried to use it like a spear.”

Rad lounges nearby, stretched across the couch, sipping coffee and watching the spectacle with a lazy smirk. “If the pancakes catch fire again, I’m eating one of you instead.”

His thoughts contradict his words, however, and he’s currently contemplating whether he wants to learn to cook too, just so he can then use it as a bargaining chip to convince me to ride his face again. His eyes find mine, then, the glow intensifying, and I send him a sexy thought of my hands pulling on his fur while he fucks me with his tail. Lust collides through the bond and he looks two seconds away from acting on those thoughts before shadows swarm me, pulling my attention away.

“And I’ll feed you to the shadows,” Steo replies mildly, continuing their conversation, not even looking up.

“Try me, Bone Daddy,” Rad growls.

“Children,” I call from the armchair, my tone teasing. “Some of us are trying to relax.”

Three pairs of eyes snap to me instantly. Hudson’s exasperation melts into a warm grin. Steo’s shadows flicker joyfully. Even Rad’s smirk softens, the tension in his shoulders easing. Love, understanding and heat travels through the bond, adding to the comforting thrum in my chest.

I stretch, luxuriating in the moment. “I don’t know what you’re trying to cook, but it smells like it’s going to set the realm on fire.”

Hudson sighs dramatically. “Grilled cheese sandwiches. Or, it was supposed to be.”

“You’ll love them,” Steo says confidently, despite the questionable steam rising behind him.

Rad sits up straight suddenly, sloshing coffee all over himself. “Did you say sandwiches? Grilled? With cheese ?” He stands suddenly, stomping toward the stove with a new focus.

Chuckling, I rise and cross the room to them, the familiar pull of our bond wrapping around me like a hug. Rad opens his arm without a word and I tuck myself against his side, stealing warmth from his body as I watch Steo and Hudson attempt a truce over a spatula.

“Shadows don’t even have hands,” Hudson mutters as he tries to reclaim the pan from a stray shadow.

“And yet they flip sandwiches better than you,” Steo says smugly.

Rad chuckles, his claws tracing lazy circles on my hip. Warmth flutters through me.

Steo finishes plating something vaguely toast-shaped and sets it down with a flourish. One of his shadows holds out a fork like it’s offering a sacred artifact.

“Eat,” Steo commands softly, and we all sit down at the table. “I’ve studied. Sandwiches are... tokens of affection. Is that right?”

“Yes,” Hudson says quickly, his smile wide and earnest. “You nailed it, man. Nailed it.”

“Could use some mustard.” Rad mumbles, before taking a huge bite.

We sit together, sharing something that might not be perfect, but is wholly ours. Laughter fills the air. Rad eats without complaining, much. Steo’s shadows preen with pride. Hudson beams like the sun has made a guest appearance in the Evergloom.

And I?—

I feel full. Not just from whatever I ate, but from them. Their love. Our bond.

As the meal winds down, I curl into the spot where all three of them inevitably gather, a tangle of limbs and warmth. Rad’s massive frame behind me, steady and protective. Hudson’s fingers laced with mine. Steo’s shadows coiled softly around us like a living blanket, humming in rhythm with our joined heartbeats and the constant flow of our bond.

“I never thought I’d find this,” I murmur into the quiet, to no one in particular, and to everyone all at once.

Rad’s deep voice answers first, gruff but soft. “Neither did I.”

Hudson’s reply is quieter, but just as sure. “It’s better than anything I imagined.”

Steo’s shadows pulse. His voice rumbles low beside my ear. “It’s what we were made for.”

Their words settle over me, warm and heavy with truth. I let them linger, let myself feel them—all of them—before I answer.

My gaze drifts between them, my voice barely above a whisper. “I love you all.”

Hudson’s grip tightens, and I hear the smile in his voice. “We love you too.”

Rad brushes his nose against the side of my neck where I know his bite is, sending delicious memory reminders of every single time he has laid claim. “In my realm, we don’t use words. We mark what’s ours. You already know what you are to me.”

Steo’s shadows curl tighter, his voice steady as stone. “My kind does not say love. We tether. We root. We stay. And I am staying.”

A single tear slips down my cheek—not from sadness, but from the quiet, overwhelming truth of it all. I am theirs. And they are mine.

No more running. No more fear.

Just us.

And in the heart of the Evergloom, where monsters once hunted me in the dark…

I’ve finally found my light.

THE END