Kael’s Point Of View
I wasn’t supposed to be here. Not tonight, anyway. After everything… the council’s threats, the fight, the blood still drying on my knuckles, I should’ve been resting. I should’ve stayed away. I told myself to stay away.
But the pull… The urge to just see her one last time tonight… It was a gnawing ache in my chest, like something feral clawing from the inside out, refusing to let me have peace.
Just one look.
One. That’s all I wanted.
The need sat on me like hunger, low and constant, nagging, sharp. It was her scent still lingering faintly in the hallway, delicate, warm, but mixed with bruises and fear.
And mine.
That soft trace of mine… even though she didn’t know it yet. I didn’t want to disturb her. Riven said she was resting. But I found myself outside her door anyway. Just standing there. Hand raised. Knuckles brushing the wood.
Fool.
Coward.
But I still knocked. “Hey…” Nothing. No shuffling. No breathing shift. Just… silence. A cold curl of discomfort twist
