SAGE
Silence fell across the field the moment the six men stepped into the arena.
I saw relief flood Adam's face so openly it made something deep in my chest soften. The tight coil of tension I had been carrying since dawn loosened in one sharp pull.
I didn't think about my next act. I only moved. Fast. Closing the distance between us in hurried strides until I finally crashed into him, my lips wide in a smile.
His arms came around me instantly, tightly, desperately. Like he had been holding himself together by sheer force of will and could finally let go.
And gods, I felt it. That quiet, bone-deep rightness. That sense of coming home. Of being whole, complete.
I breathed him in, steadying myself, and for a brief moment the world outside his arms simply… faded.
When I finally pulled back, it was slow, reluctant. "Why are you here early?" I asked, though my voice carried warmth.
