Derek did not touch me anymore.
The change was quiet at first. Easy to miss if someone was not paying attention. He still stood beside me in public. Still spoke my name when duty required it. Still defended my title with his authority. But the space between us had grown careful and measured, like something dangerous he was afraid to handle wrong.
He stopped meeting my eyes for too long.
When our hands brushed by accident, he pulled away as if burned.
At night, he did not come to my chambers.
The bed felt too wide. Too empty. I slept close to the edge without meaning to, as if leaving space for him would make it easier when he did not fill it. My wolf noticed before I did. She paced in my chest, unsettled, restless, aware that one half of our balance had stepped back.
I told myself De
