Chapter 323

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 head, after all.

She’s a beautiful wolf, with a silver coat and blue eyes. She’s not nearly as tall as the brothers’ alpha wolves, but she’s perfect. She’s mine.

“I won’t love anyone but them,” I tell her, because it’s not her I fear, or the other changes happening within me: the added strength, the speed, the heightened senses. No. What I fear is the pull of a mating bond. Something that might tie me to someone other than the four men I love.

“…a mating bond is… a gift…” she whispers. Her voice is soft, she is still weak, but growing stronger each passing moment.

“If it’s anyone but them, it will be a curse,” I say.

The majestic wolf tilts her head. “…a strong will… yours and theirs…” She straightens. “…calm. There was never… doubt…”

“Chloe…” That’s Neil’s voice.

“Come back to us.” Steven.

“If you don’t open your damned eyes…” Neil.

“Wake up, Chloe.” Archer. Demanding as ever.

“…they wait… for you…” the wolf whispers.

Then, suddenly, it tenses and launches itself at me. I fling my arms upright in defense, expecting to be tackled, expecting pain.

Instead, I blink open my eyes.

I’m lying on the couch, with the four brothers looming over me. Each carries a worried expression. They almost match, except Archer’s anger hides his more than the others.

For a long moment, no one says anything. We just look at each other, like everyone in that room is expecting something to happen. Like I could shift into a wolf in an instant, or go running out the door in search of my new mate.

“Are you… okay?” Neil asks first.

“I think so,” I manage. “How long was I out?”

“Six hours,” Steven provides, after consulting his watch.

They’ve worriedly watched over me all this time?

But, wait. Six hours? That means...

“Happy Birthday,” Beau says. He cracks a small smile but it doesn’t last before the concern smothers it once more.

“Do you know what happened?” Neil asks as he kneels down beside the couch, bringing himself eye level to me.

“I saw my wolf,” I say. “She’s beautiful.”

“The wolf fully manifested, then,” Steven says. “Just as we thought it would.”

That seemed to be the case, yes, though I don’t feel totally different. I lift my hand and look at my palm. “I feel the same really…”

“When you feel up to it, we’ll run some tests,” Steven says. “You’ll notice differences right away. They likely happened without you realizing. Or… when you were unconscious.”

“Do you feel the same in other ways?” Beau asks, inching forward.

He’s asking about the mating bond. Closing my eyes, I try to focus. I don’t know what a mating bond feels like, exactly, but I know enough that I should feel a pull towards my mate. Like, the farther we are away from each other, the worse I will ache and yearn for them.

As I reflect, I don’t feel much aching and yearning. In fact, I feel perfectly content. No, better than content. I’m absolutely joyous.

I feel like everything I’ve ever needed is right here in this room.

That’s not a good enough answer, I know, so I really concentrate. I want to be 100% sure before I say anything.

As I look deeper into myself, I slowly start to realize that what I’m feeling is not the lack of a mating bond. Instead, it is a surplus of them.

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,” Steven adds. “I didn’t know it was possible for one person to be mated to four others at once.”

“We’re the Hayes brothers,” Beau says, all confidence. “Why shouldn’t we continue to be extraordinaire? Especially with Chloe now beside us.”

I smile at Beau and then glance at Archer. He’s the only one that hasn’t spoken yet. I feel the bond with him as strongly as with the others, but he hasn’t said a word. Does he not feel it too?

As Archer holds my gaze, I spot something gentle flickering in his eyes. He’s a hard man, sometimes unreadable. Maybe it’s our bond that makes him so much clearer now, but I can see my feelings are reciprocated.

“You are ours, Chloe,” he says, and I shiver.

I am, aren’t I? Officially. I am their mate, and they are mine.

Maybe it is unheard of for a girl to have four different brothers as her mates, but to hell with what anyone else thinks. This is us. We might not be perfect, but we are exactly right for each other.

The mating bond doesn’t lie.

“I love you,” I say to him. To all of them. Then, as I sit up, I start to laugh. I laugh so hard, tears well in my eyes. “I was so scared. It seems so silly now. Who else could it be but you?”

“No one else,” Neil says. He places his hand to the small of my back. He’s still kneeling on the ground, which has him lower than me now that I’m sitting up. “Though… admittedly, I am also relieved.”

Not seeing any reason to hesitate, I lean forward and press a gentle kiss to Neil’s lips.

Beau whines impatiently. “Don’t let him have all the fun.”

Logistically, this might be a nightmare. The boys might be willing to share me with each other, but they are each still spoiled princes who want the most time with their favorite toy, who happens in this case to be me.

Neil is really going to have to flex his scheduling muscles to make sure everyone gets enough time, and everything is fair.

For now though, they each wait patiently, as I kiss Beau. Then Steven. Then Archer too, though I have to stand and go to him myself. This lot is so stubborn.

After, I feel so happy, I can barely sit still. I can’t stop touching each of them, holding their hands, or running a hand down their arms. They appear just as attracted, taking turns wrapping an arm around my back or shoulder, or stealing a kiss to my forehead or neck.

After a moment, I catch my reflection in the shine of the turned-off television screen. My hair is tied up, exposing my long neck. I twist this way and that, inspecting it.

“What are you doing?” Steven asks me, a curious expression creasing his brow.

“Imagining…” I reply vaguely, teasing them.

“Imagining what, you infuriating girl?” Beau asks as he comes to stand beside me. He hooks his chin over my shoulder.

I smile. “How I’m going to look with four different mating bites on my neck.”

Beau gasps, near silently. I wouldn’t have heard it if he wasn’t so close to my ear.

Archer starts to growl.

Neil’s hands twitch.

Steven licks his lips.

I smirk at each of them. Yeah, that was an invitation.

“Who wants to go first?” I ask.