ALARIC POV
I had once cut some strands of her hair and put it under my pillow so I could sniff her scent. It was intoxicating in a way I couldn't explain. But that was some five years ago before I decided to buy her exact hair products and kept them in my bathroom. I sniffed them every morning and night like a daily ritual. It made me feel closer to her.
"She said we could also go shopping...?" She sounded unsure about this part. She knew I didn't allow her to go out for any reason. She was used to being at home.
"Would that make you happy?" I asked, watching her closely.
Her eyes lit up, a spark of genuine excitement and disbelief flashing across her face. She nodded eagerly, her smile as radiant as the sun breaking through a storm. At that moment, she reminded me of my bird, Mel—Selene bless her poor soul—testing her wings for the first time after I had kept her in a gilded cage for almost two months for fear of losing her. I was only nine then.
