Page 487 of Knotting with the Exes
The name doesn't spike my anxiety anymore. It's been a year of healing. Of building something new.
"How long?"
"Twenty-five years. No parole for fifteen."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
Footsteps on the stairs. Sergio, Carlos, and Pedro appear, they must have felt my emotion through the bond.
"Callum?" Sergio asks.
"Twenty-five years." I lean against the counter. "Fifteen before parole."
"That's steep," Carlos says.
"It's not enough," Pedro's voice is hard. "For what he did."
"It's enough for me." The words surprise even me. "It's closure. He can't hurt anyone else. That girl in New York got justice, and so did the others who came forward once the trial hit the news.”
Sergio's hands settle on my shoulders. "You were always free. From the moment you didn’t marry him.”
"I know. But this makes it final." I look up at my pack. "He has gone."
"How do you feel?" Pedro asks gently.
I think about it.
"Sad," I admit. "For the waste of it all. He had every advantage and threw it away to hurt people. But mostly?" I place my hand over my small bump. "I'm grateful. Because his choices led me here."
"His loss," Carlos says. "Our gain."
"Can we be done with Callum now?" I ask. "Can this be the last time?"
"Yes." Sergio's voice is firm. "He's the past. We're the future."
We move to the living room. I settle into the center, my pack arranging themselves around me. The baby flutters inside me. "Moving again," I whisper.
Four hands find my bump immediately. We wait. Breathe together. A tiny kick.
Pedro's face transforms with wonder. "Strong."
"Takes after their mother," Carlos says.
"And their fathers," I add.
"All four of them." I close my eyes, feeling the bond pulse with love and contentment.
Callum Morrison got twenty-five years. We got forever.
And our child will grow up knowing what real love looks like. Messy, complicated, built from second chances and the courage to run toward the right thing.
