I turn back to Cash and Finn and make a decision. Nothing is certain. I could be killed tomorrow. I’ve decided that I’m going to live my life how I choose. And that means taking whatever happiness I can, and denying my heart no more.
Chapter 21
Ella
II take a warm bath and then allow Cash and Finn to apply the healing balm over my skin. It carries the delicate fragrance of honey and jasmine and feels like silk as they spread it over my flesh.
When they’re finished, I lay down in the bed and they lay on either side of me like before. Finn in front and Cash behind me. Each of them with an arm around my waist.
“Are you tired, Ella?” Finn asks.
I shake my head. I reach out and cup Finn’s cheek. In my heart, I already know that I love him and his brother, but I need to know if they truly feel the same in return. “You told me last night that you have strong feelings, but... do you love me?”
“Yes,” Finn replies without hesitation.
I search his eyes. “Then how could you just stand by and offer me up to another man? How could you send me into the arms of the prince? I understand why Kai did it. He thought it was his duty as your leader to make sure the prophecy was fulfilled. But you?” I turn and look back at Cash as well. “Why did you both go along with it?”
Finn clenches his jaw. “Because I thought he would give you the kind of future you deserve. One full of love and happiness and—”
I press a finger to his lips to silence him. “Are you saying you couldn’t give this to me as well?”
He looks to his brother, an uncertainty in his gaze. I roll onto my back to stare up at Cash. He reaches down and touches my cheek. “All of us love you,” he says. “But we thought the prince would give you a life that we never could. One of wealth and—”
I give him an incredulous look. “What do riches matter to the heart? Love and happiness are more precious than all the gold in the world.”
“It is forbidden for a shifter to take a human mate,” Finn says. “We would have to hide you from both our world and yours.” He pauses. “And the Elders told us you were the Chosen One. The one who must marry the prince and bring peace to both of our realms.”
“They were wrong,” I snap. Blinking back tears, I turn onto my side and hug my knees to my chest as I swallow back a sob. “Even if the prince is not dead, I refuse to be passed off like—” My voice breaks, and I stop abruptly as the first tear escapes my lashes.
Finn pulls me into his arms and gently strokes my cheek. “Ella, I am so sorry. We all are. If we had known, we would never have left you alone with him. Forgive us, please.”
“Promise me you’ll never try to give me away to someone else,” I murmur against his chest. “I don’t want to go with anyone but all of you. I refuse. You are the only ones I feel safe with. You are the only ones I love. No one else.”
He stills. “What are you saying, Ella?”
“I’m saying that I love you, Finn. I love you and Cash. And I know it’s wrong to love more than one person, but I can’t help it. That’s how I feel. And even if it’s the bond making me feel like this… it doesn’t matter.” I place my hand to my chest, directly over my heart. “I feel it in here. But I feel it for you both. Is that wrong?”
Finn’s gaze holds mine as he threads his fingers through my hair. “It is not wrong in our world to love more than one person.”
“In fact,” Cash adds, “it is not unheard of for a female to mate each of her guards.”
“It isn’t?” I ask as hope fills me.
“No,” he replies. “It is only you humans who believe it is wrong to take more than one mate.”
I draw in a shaking breath as the horrible memory returns of the wolf shifter disguised as the prince. “When I was with him, it felt wrong,” I whisper, recalling what went through me while I was at the castle. “It felt wrong because I knew that I wanted you. Both of you. But I thought you wouldn’t want me, especially since you had done everything to make sure that he noticed me. That he picked me and—” my voice catches.
Finn pulls me tight to his chest as Cash wraps his arms around me as well, holding me between them.
“If you loved me, how could you just give me away to someone else?”
“You think I wanted to let you go?” Finn asks. He grips my chin and lifts my eyes to meet his. “It was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. And when I saw you with him in the garden, I... I thought I would die of a broken heart. It was so hard to see you with him. And I knew... I knew that I would never want another as I want you. I love you, Ella. We both do.”
“He’s right,” Cash murmurs, as he touches my cheek. “You have ruined us for all other females. We are bound to you, heart, mind, body, and soul.”
I turn onto my back. Each of them are propped up on one elbow. They stare down at me as I reach out for them. Gently, I stroke my hand up and down Finn’s arm as I touch Cash’s face. “Before he tried to kill me, the wolf shifter tried to seduce me. My first time would have been...” I blink back tears.
