Sylvara POV
The door clicked shut behind him, the sound final and soft all at once.
For a long moment, I didn't move.
I stood there with my hand still hovering near the handle, my chest rising and falling too fast, my heart beating like it was trying to escape my ribs. The room felt different now…smaller somehow, warmer, charged with the echo of his presence.
I pressed my palm flat against the door and let my forehead rest there.
Breathe.
My wolf shifted beneath my skin, no longer restless, no longer pacing. She was alert… steady. Watching. The same way he did.
"He protects what's his," I whispered to the empty room.
The words should have angered me. I had spent most of my life fighting to belong to no one, refusing to be owned, controlled, claimed. And yet… the w
