f**k.
When had I started doing that? When had I started looking forward to the weight of her beside me in bed, the way she always slept curled on her side facing away from me, the soft little sounds she made when she dreamed?
During her week in the hospital, I’d barely slept. I kept reaching for her in my sleep, only to find empty space where she should have been. I’d told myself it was just habit, just my body adjusting to the change in routine.
But now, thinking about going back to sleeping alone while Ella was all the way on the opposite end of the mansion in her old room… It felt wrong. Like losing something I hadn’t realized I wanted to keep.
It was just the mate bond, though. That was what I told myself, at least.
After all, it was far easier to blame biology than
