----Elaine---
The room was hushed except for the faint crackle of the fire in the hearth, its warmth painting soft golden shadows across Kave’s face. I lay with my cheek against his shoulder, the steady rhythm of his breathing a comfort I hadn’t expected to crave so soon. My palm rested lightly on his chest, feeling the quiet strength in the rise and fall of it. For once, the Alpha of the pack looked more like a man than a leader, stretched out beside me, his voice lower and softer than the commanding tone he carried in daylight.
“What was Ryne like?” I asked, my curiosity slipping out in a whisper.
Kave’s lips curved into something bittersweet, and his gaze shifted upward, as if memory lingered in the ceiling beams. “Ryne was always more impulsive than me,” he began, his tone tinged wi
