Elena
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Elena woke slowly, as if surfacing from deep water. Her body felt heavy, her throat dry, her mind foggy. For a moment she didn’t know where she was.
Then she felt warmth.
A weight on her hand.
A familiar scent — cedar and smoke.
She blinked her eyes open.
Ryker was asleep in the chair beside her bed, his head resting on their joined hands, his fingers wrapped around hers like he’d been holding on for dear life. His shoulders were slumped, his jaw shadowed with exhaustion, his whole body radiating a tension that hadn’t eased even in sleep.
She smiled faintly.
“You were late, Alpha,” she whispered, her voice hoarse but teasing. “And I think you owe me a new honeymoon.”
Ryker jerked awake instantly, eyes snapping open. For a heartbeat he just stared at her, disbelief and r
