“Yes. Is everything okay?”“Everything’s wonderful,” the nurse says. “Your friend Tide is awake.”Debbie and I split up with Angela, who tells us again and again that she understands as we apologize profusely. Then Debbie and I rush to the hospital.When we arrive, Tide is sitting up in bed, eating
Debbie’s question and my response stay with me the rest of the day. As happy as I am to have Tide back with us again, it is hard not to feel anything other than restless with how uncertain I am in my own life.I try to be positive during the rest of the visit, and even as I hug and say goodbye to De
I really don’t want to celebrate the day I will probably lose the men I care about, the only men I have ever cared about so much, for the rest of my life. It feels morbid to even try to plan it.But, Beau looks so excited and earnest, that what choice do I really have? I would rather eat broken glas
The crowd outside the door begins to chant and cheer my name. The cameras zoom in on me. A reporter runs toward the door, microphone in hand.“Chloe! The world wants to know about you! Will you sit down for an interview?” Her voice is muffled through the door.“Chloe? Is something happening?” Mom as
Neither Archer nor I see the point in drawing this out, so we plan the challenge for later in the evening. During the time in between, all three of the other brothers try to convince both of us separately and together that this fight is unnecessary, but neither of us will listen.This animosity betw
That night, I take Archer by the hand and lead him toward my bedroom. He follows without complaint, without any word at all.My head and my heart are still reeling from his words. My adrenaline still pumping from our fight.I’ll never let you go into battle… without me by your side.There’s a promis
My sour mood lingers into the next morning, when I wake up alone. The bed is cold beside me; Archer is long gone.Things only get worse when I head down to breakfast. Beau stood ready, I swear, just inside the door, ready to jump me, because the moment I stepped through, he’s all over me, asking me
With the stress of my quickly approaching birthday weighing down on me, I decide what I need is to get out of the pyramid for a while and clear my head. So I load up Mia into her stroller and start to head outside.Before I can even reach the back entrance – the one that doesn’t have stairs – I’m wa
I’m happy because I have four hearts beating alongside mine.“Do you feel it, too?” I ask. “My connection to each of you?”I blink my eyes open once more. I want to see their faces, their reactions.Neil has his hand over his own heart. “It’s strange. It’s like part of you is inside of me.”“Me, too
In the darkness of my mind, I floated, surrounded by the comforting embrace of love. Distantly, I could feel another presence, one that grew stronger and stronger, the more I focused on it: my wolf.As I thought of her, she appeared before me as if I willed her into being. Maybe I did. We are in my
Damn alpha wolves and their heightened senses.“I’ve already made my choice,” I say. “Honestly, I think I made it a long, long time ago.”Archer relaxes marginally. Steven starts to smile.Neil turns to me, worry still on his face. “You say that now, Chloe. But the pull could be strong…”“I don’t ca
The eve of my birthday, I rest in bed and stare at my ceiling. It’s late, near midnight, but I still have my bedside light on.With my feelings shared and grown with Neil, Archer, and Steven, I didn’t expect to spend any night alone, especially the one right before the day that could change everythi
I awake to a sharp knock on my bedroom door. Neil’s arm is still draped over me but some distance had inched between our hot bodies in the night. I’m able to slink out from under his arm without him waking.Naked, I quickly stop by the bathroom to throw on my fluffy bathrobe. Then, after glancing ba
They.Beau glances at me and see my incredulous look. “What do I need to go out every night? Can’t a man just enjoy staying home for a change?”“You can do whatever the hell you want,” I say.“Good, then.” Beau slumps down on the couch. He stretches out, lifting his feet up and into my lap. “Now tel
For the rest of the morning, I desperately try not to think about Neil. Whoever he’s in love with, I won’t be offended by it. The hurt I feel has nothing to do with this new person. She must be great for her to have won Neil’s affections.The hurt is my own loss, my own problem. I let my feelings fo
After Steven and I have cleaned ourselves up with a quick shower, we fall back into bed together, giggling and laughing all the way. My now, Steven has discovered a few of my tickle zones, which he is exploiting. As revenge, I touch the places I now know make him shiver.For a while, nothing seems l
His hands fumbled with the buttons of his own shirt. Such usually steady hands are rendered useless by his nervousness.“Allow me,” I tell him. I lightly bat his hands out of the way before replacing them with mine on his shirt buttons. My times with Neil have served me well. I’m able to undo all th