Josie
I stirred with a faint groan, the sunlight spilling into the room far too bright for my liking. But it wasn’t the light that pulled from sleep—it was warmth. Gentle, solid warmth pressed against every part of . I blinked slowly, and as my vision adjusted, the shape of a shoulder filled my view. No—two shoulders. Three bodies. I was tucked like a precious thing between them. My breath caught.
My body was draped over Varen’s chest, his arm protective around my waist. Thorne was behind , close enough that I could feel the steady thrum of his heartbeat against my back. And Kiel... Kiel had his hand resting lightly over my thigh, his touch like a lingering mory of a dream I couldn’t rember but ached for.
I swallowed, heat creeping up the back of my neck.
Why the hell was I this warm?
No. It wasn’t just warmth.
It was heat. Need. Hunger. Sothing darker curled beneath my skin like a whisper, sothing I’d never felt so sharply before. I squird slightly, rubbing my legs together. My body felt too aware. Too flushed. Every breath seed to pull in their scents and settle it low in my belly.
Kiel’s fingers tightened slightly around my waist, and he shifted. I could feel him... he was hard.
"Oh," I whispered before I could stop myself.
Kiel let out a sleepy groan and blinked his eyes open. He didn’t even look surprised to see staring at him. Instead, he gave a soft smile, leaned in, and brushed a kiss to my forehead.
"Morning," he murmured, voice thick with sleep. "You okay?"
"I feel weird," I whispered.
"Define weird."
"Weak. Sore. Warm." I licked my lips and narrowed my eyes at him. "Did... did we have sex?"
Kiel’s lips twitched in amusent. "No, Josie. You’ve been asleep for a while. Healing."
"But... I feel..." I paused. "Did you do sothing to while I slept?"
That got Thorne awake with a grunt, and Varen shifted, his hand moving under my shirt to rest gently on my side.
"What did he do?" Thorne growled sleepily.
"Nothing," Kiel snapped. "She’s just being dramatic."
I frowned, then pouted. "I just feel off, okay? And no one’s giving straight answers. Did I miss sothing important?"
"You missed us almost losing our minds," Varen said as he yawned. "But no, no orgies or secret baby-making."
"Well, that’s disappointing," I mumbled under my breath.
All three of them stared at . I smiled sweetly and rolled onto my back, arms stretching. "Fine. If you’re not going to explain anything, then I want to have so fun."
"What kind of fun?" Varen raised an eyebrow.
"Truth or dare."
Varen blinked, then grinned. "Seriously?"
"Yes." I nodded. "I want to play a ga. Sothing fun. Sothing light. And you’re all going to participate."
Thorne groaned. "This is childish."
"Childish or not," I shot back, "you’re playing."
Five minutes later, we were all in Varen’s room. He’d dimd the lights, turned on so soft ambient music, and summoned alcohol like a magician pulling from a hat. Bottles were opened. Glasses were poured. My heart thudded with sothing close to excitent—normalcy.
The atmosphere was sultry, almost too much so. The air crackled with unspoken tension, the kind that only grew the longer we sat in that circle on his plush carpet.
"Truth or dare," I said, pointing at Kiel.
He raised an eyebrow. "Truth."
"Have you ever thought about what it would be like to spank ?"
Varen choked on his drink.
Kiel’s lips curved slowly. "Yes."
"Oh." I blinked. "Okay."
Varen snorted, shaking his head. "This is going to get dangerous."
It did.
Each round escalated. When soone didn’t want to answer or do the dare, they had to remove an item of clothing. By the third pass, I was in nothing but my bra and panties. I wasn’t drunk—yet—but I was warm, flushed, laughing too much, and far too comfortable with three shirtless Alphas surrounding .
"Truth or dare?" Varen asked, his voice lower than usual.
I smirked. "Dare."
"Run to the end of the hall and back—naked."
I paused. Thorne glared at him. "Absolutely not."
"Oh, co on," I teased. "That’s too easy."
They all groaned in protest, but I stood up, eyes glinting with mischief. "Actually, I have my own dare."
Thorne narrowed his eyes. "Josie..."
"I want to go up to the terrace and fall," I said, trying to keep my voice light. "Like the last ti. Let’s re-enact it. Maybe if I fall the right way, the nightmare will stop."
The air dropped. Cold. Heavy.
"Josie, no," Kiel said quickly. "That’s not funny."
"It’s not ant to be funny," I snapped. "It’s ant to be cathartic."
I turned and darted out of the room before they could stop . I could hear them curse behind , chairs scraping, feet pounding the floor.
I didn’t stop until I reached the terrace.
The wind hit instantly, blowing hair into my face. I stepped up onto the edge.
The place where it had happened. The garden was below. The sa garden where I had almost—
"Josie!" Varen barked behind .
I turned slowly, balancing on the balls of my feet. "They said they brought a real mate for , you know. My parents. They said I didn’t deserve any of you."
My voice trembled.
"They said I was a slut... and that I’d never be Luna. That I was... just sothing broken."
My vision blurred. I laughed, but it broke off into a sob. "But you didn’t even play the ga with back then. No one did."
"Josie, please," Thorne’s voice was strained, and I could hear his footsteps coming closer. "Don’t do this."
"I just want to play the ga," I whispered.
I teetered.
And then—arms.
Strong arms.
Thorne had reached .
He yanked off the edge and into his body. I was trembling, laughing and crying at the sa ti.
"You didn’t catch the first ti," I whispered into his chest.
"Josie," he growled, pressing his hand to the back of my head. "Never again. You don’t get to do that again. Do you hear ?"
I didn’t reply.
I just stood there, held tight by one of the n who’d both saved and failed . And even though I was safe now, my heart still felt like it was on that ledge.
Wobbling.
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