CHAPTER 57
Gabriella’s POV — The Aftershock**
Sound reached me first.
Low voices.
Muffled.
Worried.
Then heat. A warm hand on my forehead. Another resting at my wrist where my pulse beat too fast. A third stroking rhythmically through my hair. A fourth… trembling. Struggling.
Rhael.
My eyes snapped open.
Light flooded the room. Not harsh. Not magical. Just sunlight pushing through thick curtains. I was in a bed—soft sheets, warm blankets, the scent of pine and cedar and stormclad wolves pressed all around me.
Mark.
Leo.
Tristan.
They were close. Too close. All around me like a fortress.
And Rhael lay on the bed beside mine.
My breath vanished.
He wasn’t moving. His chest rose and fell—but barely. His skin was pale, lips cracked from exhaustion. His hair had turned darker, a
