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“Doesn’t it? You lose everything you thought you won,” I say softly, my voice broken, like my heart. “It’s a law.”
“A law?”
“Yes. When my brother and I were at our happiest, our parents left us and never came back. Our uncle who raised us for a couple of years passed away. Into the foster system we went. We got separated. We lost sight of one another for many years. I was passed from one foster parent to the next, until I became legally an adult, and then I located my brother. By then, he was already sick. So here we are now. I’m up to my neck in debt, and he lost his job, and…” I let out a shuddery breath. “And we have nothing.”
Another silence greets my words, deeper this time. My heart is pounding, lodged inside my throat. I want them to say something. React.
Please, say something.
“Tyson’s medical debt is in my name,” I push out the words, trying to make them see the problem when the silence stretches. “I have no assets. No savings. I’m not your best option. You can do so much better than me.”
There. It’s all out in the light.
“Girl.” Kyrian is the first to speak, first to move, reaching for me. When he catches my hand and pulls me to him, I dig my heels in. “Come here, my pretty. I understand this more than you’ll ever know.”
“Do you?”
“My parents abandoned me as a baby,” he says, “and the foster system I grew up in never gave a damn about me. It left me thinking I’m worthless. But then these guys found me, and I started to question that belief. I’m illiterate, but I didn’t tell them. I was afraid they’d figure it out, I was sure they’d ditch me the minute they knew, but again they didn’t.”
“You’re telling me the opposite of what I’m telling you.”
“That’s right. Because these guys are the opposite of bad luck and bad circumstances. The opposite of indifference and neglect. They can’t lie. They care. And they will keep proving their love to you, we will keep proving it to you until the doubt leaves you and what remains is trust.”
I glance at them. They’re nodding at his words. “Don’t you get it? I’m not a catch, Kyrian.”
“What if I told you that yes, you are? What if I told you that found family is the best family? That debts can be paid, and that love finds a way?”
I shiver. “Nobody has ever really asked me to stay.”
“Well, we’re asking you to,” Archer says, stepping closer to take my other hand. “Will you take our offer?”
“Will you be with us?” Roman asks, laying a hand on Kyrian’s shoulder.
And Sawyer puts his hands on my face. “Be with us, Brin.”
“Didn’t you all hear a word of what I said?” I snap, angry, sad, overwhelmed. “Didn’t you?”
“We heard. It changes nothing, except now we respect you even more,” Archer says. “Don’t you get it? You’re a fighter. You’re amazing. Be a family with us. We need you.”
I’m shaken. By their belief, their love.
“Be with us, Brin,” Sawyer says again.
“Join us,” Roman says.
“Join our pack,” Archer smiles.
“Be ours,” Kyrian finishes.
I give them a watery smile, my defenses crumbling. These guys… They won’t give up. Won’t give up on me. It’s obvious now.
And I’ve cried enough. Doubted enough. Time to grab happiness by the horns and wrestle it, ride it, enjoy it. Believe it.
“I want to,” I whisper. “I want to join you.”
“Is that a yes?” Archer asks.
“Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, please.”
