I needed your hands, your breath, your weight proof that the world hadn't ended, because you were still mine."
Hours into the night, the hidden villa was deceptively still, cloaked in the silence of the Silverback Forest and the heavy, terrified submission of the rogue army still scattered outside. It was a silence I did not trust, a fragile, brittle peace bought by exhaustion and the shock of Taemin's near-death. The air in the command room, now functioning as our barracks, was thick with tension, grief, and the meticulous planning for the strategic deception I had commanded.
I had not slept; I had merely rested in a state of hyper-alert, controlled awareness that allowed my body to recover while my mind dissected every detail of Zarek Nightshade's confession. I lay on a simple cot, the memory of Vayne's crushing Alpha authority still humming beneath my skin, ready to snap into action at the slightest threat.
