-ALEXANDER-
A whole month. Another thirty days had crawled by since Lilian had started her agonizingly slow recovery. Her body was mending, her skin now held a soft, healthy glow, and she could eat full meals, feeding herself with a tentative independence. But her voice, though capable of rough, broken words for Elara and Margaret, remained stubbornly silent for me. My daily visits were a silent torture, her blank gaze, her averted face, a constant, sharp rejection. My jealousy was a burning coal in my gut, seeing her respond to others, but not to me, the Alpha who had claimed her.
The constant tension, the unending ache of the bond, the guilt that festered beneath my skin – it was all grinding me down. I was an Alpha King in name only, my focus entirely consumed by the fragile woman in
