"And yet you're a good Alpha," Raphael observed. "You make sure she knows you care about her safety even when you're not restricting her freedom. That's the balance, isn't it? Possession without control."
"Something like that," Damian agreed.
Eve looked between them, watching the careful dance of authority and respect, and felt warmth bloom in her chest. Her mates understood. They weren't threatened by Raphael's presence or possessive of her time. They trusted her. Trusted him.
That mattered more than she knew how to say.
"Library?" Eve suggested to Raphael. "It's quiet. Private."
"Lead the way."
The library was exactly as she'd left it that morning....books still scattered across the table from where she'd been reading, the window seat cushions still indented from where she'd curled up with Silas. The space felt lived-in now. Hers.
Theirs.
Raphael moved to the window, looking out over the estate grounds with an expression Eve couldn't quite read.
