ALBERT POV
I fell asleep curled up against her, spooning my mate and holding her with my body like she was the only thing keeping me grounded.
Maybe she was.
I was shocked she’d let me.
I never thought she would—not without a nightmare waking her, not without her body tensing or her rejecting me while I was asleep, or her pushing me away with a shove.
That still stung.
The memory of all the times she’d flinched from me like I was poison—it burned somewhere under my ribs, quiet but constant.
But not this time.
She’d said she was having trouble falling asleep, that Atticus’s purring might help.
And I wasn’t going to deny her anything.
My mate. My reason to breathe.
So I let my wolf take over enough for his rumble to start low in my chest, a vibration that echoed between us, soothi
