~ Seraphina's POV ~
The warmth of his touch lingered like a brand... one I hadn’t asked for, but couldn’t seem to forget.
I stood frozen in the garden, the crisp wind biting at my skin as if trying to shake me back into reality. The scent of lavender still hung in the air, mixing with damp stone and dew-soaked earth. But nothing grounded me.
Not when my heart still raced like prey in the presence of a predator I couldn’t name.
This is not how I should feel.
I know it should feel wrong—but it doesn’t. Not even a little.
I survived the fire. Betrayal. Loss so vast that it made me completely empty from inside.
And yet... this?
This brief, stolen moment with Alaric Everhart had shaken me more than the flames—more than the chains my so-called mate once bound me with.
Why?
‘Lyra… why d
