Zane
At first, the girl woke with only the smallest movement. Her eyelashes fluttered, her breathing quickened, and her pupils suddenly widened in alarm. She tore her gaze away from me as if my closeness burned her.
My chest tightened.
“Hey… slowly,” I whispered, careful not to frighten her further. “Calm down, Lyra. I’m here.”
But at my touch she flinched. She yanked her hand back as if a spider had bitten her. Panic flooded her eyes, her breath hitched, and she looked at me as though I might strike her at any second. My stomach clenched.
“I won’t hurt you,” I said quietly. “Never.”
But the alpha depth of my voice only fed her fear. Every reflex was alive in her body. Every old wound. Everything Kian and that bastard pack had drilled into her.
“Please…” she whispered, and someth
