Chapter Forty Three - Alina's P.o.V

The door clicked shut behind Rowan, and the silence that followed his absence left me feeling empty inside.

I sat there on the bed, frozen in place and staring at the empty space where he’d stood only seconds earlier.

My body still carried him, his scent in my lungs, his heat in my skin, and his marks written all across my skin like tattoos that couldn’t be washed away.

My hand drifted to the sash at my waist, the one he’d tied with such deliberate care. The knot sat firm, steady, as if his hands were still there. I tugged it loose, retied it, then tugged it again. Pathetic. That was how desperate I was to cling to something of him, even in his absence.

My throat tightened suddenly.

“He doesn’t want us,” I whispered, though the volume of the words made no difference to how deeply I hurt at the thought.

There was no answer in response to my pitiful statement. No sultry laugh, no confident purr of reassurance from my wolf. Just empty, endless, silence.

I tried again, softer this time.

“