Cierra:
The sound of the door crashing open made my heart skip a beat.
Dane.
He stepped inside like he owned the room, as if the world had paused while he decided to enter. For a moment, the storm of anger, grief, and shadow coiling through my veins froze. His hair fell across his forehead in careless strands, his chest rising evenly with breath that seemed calm. For one terrifying heartbeat, he looked… normal.
Then I remembered.
Everything.
The memories didn’t whisper anymore—they screamed. Every second he left me bleeding out, the heat of blood on my skin, the weight of my fear and betrayal, the sight of him carrying Alyssa to safety while I begged him—every fragment slammed into me at once.
I sobbed.
The sound tore from my chest, ragged and raw, echoing through the chamber. My w
