Chapter Fifteen
Gabriella’s POV
The silence after the Alphas left was worse than any noise.
It pressed against my ears, thick and heavy, leaving me alone with the storm inside my chest.
Ava hadn’t spoken since they’d gone. For once, she was quiet—watchful. I could feel her curled deep in my mind, her energy like a heartbeat under my skin. Every time I reached for her, she pulsed in answer, calm and self-assured, as if she were the one in control and I was merely the shadow.
When I finally dragged myself out of bed, my reflection in the mirror startled me. My hair was tangled, my eyes bright and wild, and there was a faint golden glow around the pupils that hadn’t been there before. Ava’s mark, I thought. Her claiming of me.
I washed, dressed, and tried not to think about the way my h
