<h4>Chapter 858: Chapter 860 - Awakening</h4>


    The world felt heavy and warm.


    Jude blinked open his eyes slowly, his gaze adjusting to the soft light slipping in through the leafy canopy above. A few sunbeams filtered through the open window of his treehouse, dancingzily across the wooden walls, casting green shadows that swayed with the breeze.


    For a long moment, he justy there, unmoving, his arms pinned beneath the two women curled on top of him, Grace to his left, with her cheek nestled into his chest, and Lucy sprawled over his right side, her soft hair tickling his neck. Their breathing was slow and steady,pletely at peace.


    Jude stared at the ceiling of woven leaves and wooden beams and exhaled.


    It was just a dream.


    That terrible, long, impossible dream.


    He didn’t remember all of it, just pieces. Blurred shapes and panicked feelings. Death. Monsters. Blood. Shadows behind the trees. The heat of the volcano. Screams. Loss. L... Something about L.


    And then, nothing.


    It all drifted away the moment he opened his eyes and saw Grace and Lucy wrapped around him. Real. Warm. Alive.


    He smiled gently, lifting his arms slowly. He shifted Grace first, carefully sliding his hand beneath her shoulders and easing her head down onto the makeshift mattress of dried grass and soft furs. She stirred but didn’t wake, her lips parting just slightly as she let out a quiet sigh.


    Lucy was a little heavier, her leg hookedzily over his waist, but he moved her with the practiced gentleness of someone who had done this a hundred times before. Her face twitched, and for a moment Jude held still, watching hershes flutter... but then she stilled again.


    He sat up, stretching his back with a quiet groan. His chest was bare, marked with small scratches, he couldn’t remember where they came from, but he didn’t worry about them. His pants were wrinkled and soft from too many days without tailoring, but they werefortable. Familiar.


    He turned and nced toward the far side of the room. There, curled on a fur nket beside a small shelf of gathered books and shiny river stones, Sophie slept. Her dark hair fell across her eyes, one arm beneath her head. She looked peaceful.


    A soft breeze rustled the leaves outside, and Jude stood. He moved barefoot across the wooden floor, stepping over a pile of dried herbs and a coiled vine-rope he meant to fix yesterday. He ducked beneath the hanging doorway and stepped outside.


    The tform outside his treehouse overlooked a wide part of the forest. From here, the morning light spread across the treetops in waves of gold and green. Birdsong drifted through the air, real birds, not monsters in disguise, and a distant sound of running water echoed like music.


    He ced a hand against the trunk of the tree. The bark was warm. Alive.


    I’m home, he thought.


    I’m actually home...


    He leaned on the railing, letting the wind hit his face. For all the horrors and istion of this ind, this was where he had lived, loved, survived. It had be home long ago, and now it felt even more precious.


    A rustle came from the treehouse behind him. He didn’t turn, just smiled.


    "I thought you were asleep," Sophie’s voice said gently.


    "I was," Jude replied. "But I think I just woke up twice."


    Sophie stepped up beside him, brushing her hair from her face. "Nightmare?"


    He nodded. "Weird one. Didn’t make much sense."


    Sophie leaned on the railing beside him, her shoulder brushing his. "You’ve been twitching in your sleep thest few nights. Emma said you kicked her once."


    "I thought that was a dream too," he said,ughing softly.


    "Well, your feet are very real. And surprisingly strong."


    "I’ll apologize to her properly."


    "I’m sure she’ll forgive you," Sophie said, eyes twinkling. "If you kiss her enough."


    Jude grinned. "I think I can manage that."


    Below them, a voice called from another treehouse.


    "Breakfast crew! You awake, or should we send the forest snakes to snuggle you out of bed?"


    It was Scarlett, and the sass in her voice made Sophie roll her eyes fondly.


    "I’m up," Jude shouted back. "Trying to decide if I should kiss my wives or fish for them first."


    Scarlett’sugh echoed back through the trees. "Do both. In that order!"


    Sophie nudged him. "You heard thedy."


    Jude turned toward her and ced a soft kiss on her forehead. "Then let’s wake the others."


    They moved together through the morning like the pieces of a practiced orchestra.


    In the lower treehouse, Serena and Ste were already up, brushing each other’s hair and sharing some kind of hushed, giggling story that Jude knew better than to interrupt. Zoey was stretching her arms outside, yawning with catlike grace, while Amelia sharpened one of their bone knives on a t stone, her movements careful and precise.


    Natalie and Emma were just starting to climb down from their shared nest, still sleep-tousled and blinking at the light. Susan was organizing baskets of fruit and leftover herbs, mumbling something about inventory and spoiled figs.


    Jude moved through them all, offering kisses, touches, soft greetings. Each one greeted him back with warmth, some with teasing affection, some with sleepy grins.


    It wasn’t a life they’d chosen. But it had be theirs.


    Soon, the morning broke into full routine. Jude, Scarlett, and Zoey set out toward the river with handmade spears andting. The path through the trees was quiet except for the crunch of leaves and the asional call of birds. Nothing hostile. Nothing strange.


    Scarlett elbowed him lightly as they walked. "You look... relieved. Something different about you today."


    Jude shrugged. "Just d to be here. All of you. Alive."


    Scarlett looked at him sideways. "You sure you didn’t get possessed or something? You’re being a little sentimental."


    Heughed. "Maybe I just had a really good dream."


    "Or a really bad one," Zoey said softly. She was always quieter in the mornings, her voice like wind through reeds.


    "Both," Jude admitted. "I think it was both."


    The river came into view, glimmering beneath the sunlight. The water rushed fast, but they knew where to stand, where to spear. They took positions by the rocks and began the work, falling into afortable rhythm.


    Meanwhile, back at camp, the others were busy. Sophie and Grace sorted clothes and aired out bedding. Lucy and Emma argued gently about the best way to stack firewood. Amelia and Serena prepared the fire pit, and Ste climbed a nearby tree to fetch more fruit.


    It was simple. It was familiar. And every movement, every task, felt like a kind of sacred ritual. A testament to their survival.


    By the time they returned with a handful of fish and a woven pouch of river greens, the sun was higher, the forest warmer. The fire was lit, and the scent of sizzling herbs filled the air.


    Grace ran to greet Jude first, taking the fish from his hands with a mock-serious nod of approval. "You’re lucky you’re good at this," she said. "Otherwise we’d vote to marry someone who can cook."


    "Toote," Jude said, stepping closer. "You already married me."


    He kissed her, and she melted against him for a moment before pulling away with augh. "Fine, fine. You win. Go kiss Lucy before she gets jealous."


    "I heard that!" Lucy shouted from the fire.


    He grinned and made his rounds.


    They ate together, seated in a wide circle beneath the trees, the fire crackling gently at the center. tes made of palm leaves, cups carved from bamboo,ughter and stories filling the spaces between bites.


    Jude watched them all, his wives, hispanions, his strange and beautiful family, and felt thest of the nightmare fade awaypletely.


    This was real.


    It wasn’t the world he once knew. But it was a world he could love.


    And for now, that was enough.