Chapter 19: Not His to Keep
Alex
Warm arms cradled my body.
I felt a steady chest pressed firmly against my cheek. It was rising and falling in a slow, rhythmic motion beneath my ear. For a single heartbeat, I did not want to wake up at all. The darkness had been quiet and peaceful, and the warmth I felt now felt wrong and right at the exact same time. It was familiar. It felt safe in a way that I had not felt in many years. It was a comfort I thought I had forgotten.
Then, the realization hit me.
Kaelan.
I knew his scent even before I opened my eyes. He smelled like pine needles, cold steel, and a winter fire. It was a scent that wrapped around me like a memory I no longer wanted to keep. My body felt heavy and useless, like I was being pulled back by force from a place that was dar
