Dravina POV
I awoke alone. The memories of the night before clung to the room like a whisper soft, unspoken, and undeniable. The coarse texture of the sheets against my bare skin was the only physical trace left of what had passed between Malrik and me.
I should’ve felt guilt. Maybe even shame. But instead, a slow, unmistakable thrill stirred in my chest. His voice echoed in my mind raw, certain, possessive. “I won’t let you go.”
Whether it had been a promise or a momentary surge of heat, it had rooted itself in me. For the first time in so long, I had felt cherished. Wanted. As though I wasn’t just surviving I was worth something.
In his arms, the weight of everything I’d carried slipped from my shoulders, replaced by something dangerously close to hope.
But hope was a tricky thing a
