By evening, as the celebration wound down and pack members began to return to their homes, Eve found herself sitting with her three mates in a quiet corner, watching the sunset paint the sky in shades of pink and gold.
"That was perfect," Damon said, his arm around her.
"It was," Damian agreed. "Watching them celebrate you. Watching them genuinely grateful. That's what real leadership looks like."
"This is what we built," Silas said. "All four of us. A community that actually works. People whose lives are genuinely better."
Eve looked at all three of them, at the men who'd claimed her, bonded with her, stood beside her through every challenge.
"I couldn't have done any of this without you," Eve said. "Not just as a matter of emotional support, but genuinely. You made this possible. You believed in me when I was still figuring out who I was."
