***CONRY***
The morning light crept through the cracks of the curtains, soft and golden, painting faint stripes across the stone floor. I lay awake long before dawn, staring at the ceiling, the memories of last night still vivid in my mind.
Her kiss.
It hadn’t been long — a brief brush of warmth — but it had haunted me the entire night. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it again. The gentleness of it. The hesitation. The way she said ‘good night, Alpha’ as though the words carried something more than politeness.
I didn’t sleep much, but I didn’t feel tired either. Something in me had shifted. The weight I’d carried for years — the duty, the loneliness that came with leadership — felt a little lighter. For once, I woke not thinking of borders or treaties or the next battle. I woke thi
