MEDINA POV
I woke up alone.
And for a second—just a second—I felt a little tiny pang in my chest.
My heart—my cold, dead, very much not supposed to feel anything heart—tightened.
Barely.
Just enough to notice.
Just enough to piss me off.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling, unmoving, letting that feeling sit for a moment longer than I should have, testing it, poking at it like it might dissolve if I ignored it hard enough.
It didn’t.
Of course it didn’t.
Damn Ethan. Damn mate bond. Damn mark on my neck.
The heavy curtains still drawn, the faint lines of light creeping in at the edges, the bed still warm under me, still smelling like him in a way that was becoming dangerously familiar.
Where was he?
And why—
Why was that my first thought?
I exhaled sharply and pushed myself
