Ryker’s POV
I lie in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, arm thrown over my eyes like it’ll block out the memory. Sleep doesn’t come—not after that. Not after seeing her in Soren’s bed, curled up and small, where I should have been the one she turned to.
I try to think of other things, but my thoughts keep drifting back to her lying there. My head won’t shut up. My chest won’t either. There’s a pressure under my ribs, sharp and roiling. It hurts in a way I can’t escape.
Duke’s pacing doesn’t help; it only adds to the pain.
“She went to him,” he growls.
I can hear the confusion and pain in his voice.
“Yeah,” I mutter, unable to say anything more, as if I didn’t see it or it didn’t hit exactly where it shouldn’t—right in the softest part of me.
I turn onto my side, jaw tight, teeth g
