Alaric
I woke up in a hotel room with a strange woman sleeping beside me.
How I had gotten there? I had no idea.
For a moment, I didn’t even breathe. The air was thick with an unfamiliar perfume that was sweet, heavy and nauseating and my temples throbbed like drums being beaten from inside my skull. The sheets were twisted around my legs, slick with sweat. My bare skin felt clammy, as though shame itself had seeped into my pores.
My eyes darted around, unfocused at first. There was a cheap chandelier above me, unfamiliar wallpaper, the pale glow of dawn leaking through the curtains. This wasn't the room I'd fallen asleep in. Not the bed. And certainly not my mate beside me.
I sat there for what felt like forever, motionless, too stunned to even curse. The pounding in my head grew wor
