*Chapter 9:
ALESSIA
I woke up tasting blood.
Not metaphorical. But Literally,It had dried on my pillowcase, rust-brown against BloodNight’s expensive linen, and the metallic tang coated my tongue. The bond snap tore something open last night, and my body was still paying the bill in installments.
Azriel sat in the chair by the bed. He hadn’t slept. I could tell by the way his hands were clasped, knuckles white, watching me like I was a patient who’d coded twice and he wasn’t sure I’d make it through the third. The sunrise cut through the window in a single blade, catching the dark circles under his eyes and the blood flaking on his thumb was actually my blood.
“You hemorrhaged,” how do you feel, he said without greeting. Just fact, he continued “Internal from the rejection,Your wolf
