Kael
A few moments later, I heard the shower start.
Steam slowly drifted beneath the bathroom door while the steady rhythm of falling water filled the suite.
I remained where I was.
Listening.
Thinking.
Not about Reddick.
Not about guilt.
Not about fear.
Just…
About how strange it was that the silence no longer felt empty when someone else occupied it.
I looked toward the closed bathroom door.
My mate.
The words still settled awkwardly in my mind, as though they belonged to someone else’s life instead of mine. Since he arrived I’d treated the bond like an inconvenience. A betrayal. Something to outrun until it eventually gave up chasing me.
It never had.
Drake never had.
He’d simply waited.
Not demanding.
Not pressuring.
Just… there.
Somewhere along the way, I’d stopped
