Jaxon POV
The bedroom was a haven, its cedar-scented air warm and familiar, the soft glow of lanterns casting shadows across the four-poster bed where Lyra and I lay, tangled in each other’s arms, the world outside reduced to a distant hum. Her dark hair spilled across the pillow, her hazel eyes soft, glistening with tears now dried, her breath warm against my chest as I held her close, my fingers tracing the curve of her spine, her skin a lifeline beneath my touch.
The pain of seeing her kiss Darius—his hands on her, her body leaning into him—still burned, a raw wound in my heart, my wolf whimpering with a mix of rage and fear. But her words, her desperate plea for forgiveness, her vow to choose me, had stitched the edges of that wound, fragile but holding.
My arms tightened around h
