Chapter 271: The End

Scarlett’s POV

​Two months later...

​"Why are you three acting weird?"

The moment the question left my mouth, Leo stopped walking. Liam immediately looked at Leonard, and Leonard looked at Leo.

And that was enough to confirm it.

I narrowed my eyes at them. "You are acting weird."

"We are not acting weird," Liam said.

"You’ve barely spoken since we left the house."

"That doesn’t mean anything."

"And Leo has checked his pocket at least ten times."

Leo’s hand immediately moved away from his pocket.

I pointed at him. "See!"

Leonard laughed under his breath. "Can you just trust us for five more minutes?" he asked.

I folded my arms over my chest. "That depends. Are you planning to throw me into another lake?"

Leo grinned. "I still think that was funny."

"It wasn’t."

"You laughed."

"After I threatened to kill you."

"Still counts."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the smile pulling at my lips.

It had been two months since the night we completed our mate bonds. Two months since I had marked all three of them and they had marked me. And somehow, everything had changed.

Not in some huge, magical way.

Life simply felt... right.

For the first time in what felt like forever, there was no enemy waiting around the corner. No war. No fear that someone I loved would disappear before morning.

There was just us.

My three impossible mates.

My family.

And even the relationship between the three of them had changed.

There had been a time when sharing me had been difficult for them. They had loved me, but each of them had wanted a piece of me that belonged only to him. There had been jealousy, arguments, and that silent competition between brothers who were used to sharing almost everything except the woman they loved.

But that was gone now.

They had finally understood that none of them needed to win me. I wasn’t something to be won. I belonged with all three of them, just as they all belonged with me.

They didn’t compete for my attention anymore. If I fell asleep against Liam, Leo didn’t try to pull me away. If Leonard kissed me in front of his brothers, nobody became jealous. Some nights I slept curled between all three of them, surrounded by arms, legs, warmth, and the occasional argument about who was stealing the blanket.

They had learned to share me. Not because they loved me less individually, but because they loved each other enough to understand that this was our family.

The four of us.

Leo suddenly stepped behind me. Before I could turn around, his hands covered my eyes.

"Leo!"

"No looking."

"Are you serious?"

"Very."

I reached up, grabbing his wrists. "If I fall, I’m biting you."

"You already did."

My fingers automatically brushed the mark on his shoulder. Leo chuckled beside my ear.

"Come on, little bird."

Liam took my hand while Leo kept my eyes covered, and they carefully led me forward.

"Where are we going?"

Nobody answered.

"Guys?"

Still nothing.

"You know I hate surprises."

"That is a lie," Leonard said.

"I hate your surprises."

"That sounds more accurate," Liam muttered.

I laughed.

We walked for another minute before they finally stopped. The evening breeze brushed gently against my skin. I could hear leaves moving somewhere nearby and the quiet sound of water.

My heart started beating faster.

"Okay," Leo whispered. "Ready?"

"I’ve been ready for the last ten minutes."

His hands slowly dropped.

I opened my eyes.

And froze.

"Oh..."

Tiny lights surrounded the garden in front of me, glowing between the trees like hundreds of little stars. White flowers covered the ground, creating a path toward the lake.

But that wasn’t what made my breath catch.

There were pictures everywhere.

Pictures of us.

Some were ridiculous. Leo sleeping with his mouth open. Liam pretending not to smile while I kissed his cheek. Leonard carrying me after I had fallen asleep downstairs.

Others made my chest ache.

The four of me and them together.

Laughing. Holding each other. Living.

My eyes immediately filled with tears.

"What is this?" I whispered.

Nobody answered.

I turned around.

And my heart stopped.

All three of them were down on one knee.

"Oh my God."

My hands flew over my mouth.

Leo was already smiling. Liam looked more nervous than I had ever seen him. And Leonard was holding a small black box.

For several seconds, I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even breathe properly.

Leo spoke first.

"You’re our mate, Scarlett. Our little bird. And apparently the only woman crazy enough to survive the three of us."

A watery laugh escaped me.

"Leo," Liam warned.

"What? It’s true."

Leonard shook his head, smiling.

Then Liam looked at me, and the teasing disappeared.

"We know the mate bond already connects us," he said softly. "We don’t need a ceremony to prove that you belong with us."

My throat tightened.

"But we want one," Leonard continued. "We want to stand in front of everyone we love and choose you again."

Leo’s smile softened. "Not because fate gave you to us."

Liam reached for my hand. "But because even without the bond, Scarlett, we would still choose you."

That broke me.

A tear slipped down my cheek.

Leonard opened the box.

Inside was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. Three smaller stones surrounded one larger stone in the center.

"Scarlett," Leonard said, his voice thick with emotion, "will you marry us?"

I stared at them. At my mates. At the three men who had somehow become my entire world.

Then I started crying.

Leo’s face fell. "Wait. Is that a good cry?"

I laughed through my tears. "You idiots."

"So... yes?" Liam asked.

"Yes!"

All three of them froze.

I laughed harder. "Yes! Of course I’ll marry you!"

Leo shot to his feet first. I barely had time to breathe before he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me off the ground.

I screamed, laughing as he spun me around.

"She said yes!"

"Put her down before you kill our future wife," Liam snapped, although he was laughing too.

"Our wife," Leo corrected.

Leonard took the ring from the box when Leo finally lowered me. His fingers were slightly shaky as he slid it onto mine.

I stared at it.

Perfect.

Absolutely perfect.

Then I remembered.

Oh.

My surprise.

I slowly looked up at them. Three stupidly happy faces stared back at me.

I bit my bottom lip.

"What?" Liam asked immediately.

I smiled. "Actually... I have something for you too."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Another mark? Because I’m available."

I slapped his arm. "No."

Leonard studied my face. "Scar?"

My heart began pounding.

I had discovered it three days ago. Three days of keeping the biggest secret of my life from them because I wanted to find the right moment.

Apparently, this was it.

I reached into my dress pocket and pulled out the small, folded paper I had hidden there.

Liam frowned. "What is that?"

I handed it to him. "Read it."

He opened it.

His eyes moved across the paper.

Then stopped.

He went completely still.

Leo frowned. "What?"

Liam said nothing.

Leonard took the paper from him. His eyes widened, and then both of them looked at me.

Leo looked between us. "Why is nobody talking?"

A laugh escaped me.

I placed both hands over my stomach.

Leo followed the movement. His smile disappeared, and then his eyes widened.

"No."

I nodded, tears already returning. "Yes."

His mouth dropped open.

"Scarlett..."

"I’m pregnant."

Silence.

Complete silence.

For once, all three of my mates had absolutely nothing to say.

I laughed nervously. "Guys?"

Leo moved first.

He dropped straight to his knees in front of me, his hands hovering over my stomach as if he were afraid to touch me.

"There’s a baby in there?"

I laughed through my tears. "Yes."

"Our baby?"

"No, Leo. The neighbor’s."

Leonard burst out laughing.

Leo looked offended. "I’m emotional right now."

I took his hands and placed them gently against my stomach. His entire expression changed. The teasing disappeared, and his eyes turned glassy.

Liam stepped closer, staring at me as if he were suddenly putting pieces of a puzzle together.

"That explains it," he murmured.

I frowned. "Explains what?"

Leonard’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me. "Your aura."

My heart skipped.

"What about my aura?"

"It changed," Leonard said. "Not enough for us to understand what it was, but I’ve been feeling something different around you lately."

Leo’s eyes widened even more. "And your scent!"

Liam nodded immediately. "I noticed that too."

I stared at them. "You noticed my scent changing, and none of you said anything?"

"We weren’t sure," Liam explained. "It was slight. Your scent was still yours, but there was something underneath it that wasn’t there before."

"Warmer," Leonard murmured.

Leo was still staring at my stomach in complete wonder. "Our wolves noticed it too. They’ve been more protective of you lately. I thought it was because the mate bond was getting stronger."

Liam’s expression softened.

"No wonder."

His hand slowly settled beside Leo’s on my stomach. "No wonder your aura feels different."

Leonard stepped behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. "And no wonder your scent changed."

For a moment, all three of them simply stared at me.

Then Leo laughed.

It was a broken, emotional sound.

"We should have known."

"How?" I asked, laughing through my tears. "I didn’t even know until three days ago."

"Still," he muttered. "Three Alphas, and none of us figured out our mate was carrying our pup."

Something passed between the three brothers.

But there was no challenge in their eyes.

No question.

No competition.

Not anymore.

Liam slowly lowered himself beside Leo. His hand joined Leo’s over my stomach, and then Leonard’s covered both of theirs.

I looked down at the three hands resting protectively over the tiny life growing inside me.

Something warm filled my chest.

"Do you know whose—"

Leo immediately looked up. "Don’t finish that question."

I blinked.

He stood and cupped my face.

"That baby is ours."

Liam nodded. "It doesn’t matter which one of us is the biological father."

Leonard kissed my forehead. "We’re all going to be its fathers."

There was no hesitation between them. No secret look to see who might have fathered the baby. No argument over whose child I carried.

Months ago, maybe things would have been different.

But not now.

They had learned that loving me meant sharing a life with me, not fighting over pieces of it. And that included the little life growing inside me.

Whoever had fathered this baby didn’t matter.

This child belonged to our family.

All four of us.

Soon to be five.

My eyes burned again. "You mean that?"

Leo frowned at me. "Scarlett, that child has three fathers."

Liam smiled. "Three extremely overprotective fathers."

"Four overprotective parents," Leonard corrected.

Leo groaned. "That poor child is never leaving the house."

I laughed. "You three are impossible."

"And you’re marrying us anyway," Leo said proudly.

I looked at the ring on my finger, then at the three men surrounding me.

My mates.

My future husbands.

The fathers of my child.

There had been a time when I thought fate had ruined my life. A time when loving three men had seemed impossible.

Wrong.

Too complicated.

Too dangerous.

But standing there beneath the glowing lights, with three hands resting over our baby and three mate marks warm against my skin, I finally understood.

Love had never promised to be simple.

It had only asked me to be brave enough to accept it.

I reached for them, pulling all three closer.

"I love you."

Leo kissed my forehead. Liam kissed my cheek. Leonard wrapped his arms around all of us.

"We love you too, little bird."

I closed my eyes, surrounded by their warmth.

For once, I wasn’t afraid of tomorrow.

I couldn’t wait for it.

Because whatever came next, I wouldn’t face it alone.

I had my mates.

I had my family.

And somewhere beneath my heart, a tiny new life was already becoming part of our strange, beautiful love story.

​THE END