Aria's POV.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my black cloak heavy around my shoulders, its coarse fabric scratching against my skin. The room was dim, the only light spilling from a single candle flickering on the nightstand, casting long, wavering shadows across the walls.
My hands twisted together in my lap, fingers knotting and unknotting as I waited for Alpha Kael. He was supposed to come.
He always came. But the minutes dragged on, each one heavier than the last, and the silence in the room pressed against my chest like a stone.
My heart ached with every tick of the old clock in the corner, its relentless rhythm mocking my hope. He wasn't coming. Not tonight.
I swallowed hard, my throat tight, and blinked back the tears threatening to spill. My eyes traced the familiar cracks in the wooden floorboards, trying to hold myself to something, anything, that felt real.
