66. Fragility of Us

|| Lilac's POV || I lay on the couch, my head resting against Alaric’s arm, the steady rise and fall of his chest a comforting rhythm beneath me. The room was quiet, save for the soft crackling of the fire in the hearth, its warm glow casting flickering shadows across the walls. But despite the peacefulness of the moment, guilt gnawed at me, a relentless ache that refused to be ignored. Why do I feel so restless? Why I had pulled away from him before? The questions swirled in my mind, each one heavier than the last. I closed my eyes, trying to quiet the storm inside me, but it was no use. The guilt was a living thing, twisting and turning in my chest, refusing to let me breathe. And then, faint but unmistakable, a voice whispered in my ear. Lilac. My eyes flew open, and I jolted upright, my heart pounding in my chest. That voice— it was her. My wolf. Runa. It had been so long since I’d heard her, so long since I’d felt her presence. But there she was, faint but there, a flicker of life