Chapter 19
Lelia – POV
The moonlight didn’t feel soft anymore.
It bled through the curtain in long, pale streaks, casting the room in silver bars like a cage. I stared at the ceiling in the quiet, arms wrapped around my pillow, eyes wide open, trying to think about the bright side.
I had my own bedroom. A beautiful bathroom. A job. And, surprisingly, actual friends—or the beginning of them.
Marie. Arlo. Even Jessi.
But tonight, all of that felt like a distant echo.
I kept thinking about that sound—those footsteps outside my door. The way the scent of lemons and coconuts had filled the hallway. The way my chest had lifted with fragile hope… only to be crushed the same breath later. I was certain Marie had told the shopkeeper to put the clothes on Alpha Kevin’s account.
Why would he
