The six men completely froze.
They had braced themselves for a myriad of reactions. They fully expected her to weep with overwhelming gratitude at the sheer, cosmic magnitude of their love. They had prepared for her to mourn the agonizing loss of their majestic inner beasts, to shed tears for the ancient dragon and the towering white tiger that had kept her warm at night. They had expected tragedy, profound sorrow, and a tearful, desperate embrace.
Instead, Roxy went full Matriarch.
The color that had slowly been returning to her pale cheeks violently flushed into a dark, furious crimson. The brilliant green of her eyes, previously swimming with unshed tears, instantly hardened into twin points of terrifying, unadulterated rage.
She gripped the thin edges of her white hospital blanket, her knuckles turning bone-white.
