|Theodore|
“Manuel,” I greeted as soon as I answered the phone. On the other end, I heard a sharp intake of breath before his voice, deep and steady as ever, echoed into the stillness. “Good afternoon, Alpha.”
I switched the phone to speaker mode, preferring the freedom of my hands while I paced.
It had been two weeks since the war ended. Two weeks since I had retreated to Southern Grimshire. Two weeks since I left the hospital. Yet, the weight of those days felt like a lifetime. My gaze drifted to the bed, where Carmella lay unmoving, her face pale yet serene. Each fragile rise and fall of her chest was a reminder of how close I had come to losing her.
“I hate to disturb you,” Manuel continued, his tone measured, but I could hear the tension beneath it. “But the work is piling up. It’
