Rachael POV
I kept catching myself watching the girl Ava.
Every time Eryx moved, she seemed to move too, drifting closer under the excuse of needing something, asking questions that didn’t really need answers. She lingered where she didn’t have to, her eyes following him in a way that felt too deliberate to be innocent. I tried to tell myself I was imagining it, that my nerves were simply stretched thin after everything that had happened, but the tight pull in my chest refused to ease.
I didn’t know what I was feeling. Jealousy felt too sharp, too ugly a word for something this quiet. This was softer, heavier. Something that sat under my ribs and made it harder to breathe.
I forced myself to look away.
The other females needed direction, not a distracted alpha mate watching shadows. I
