Rachael POV
I had been in Eryx’s room for what felt like days.
Heat after heat, pain after pain, he had stayed with me through all of it. Mating me constantly, grounding me, easing every sharp burn that threatened to tear me apart. My body was tired, sore in that deep, lingering way that came from being claimed over and over again, but I felt steady. Safe. The ache was gone.
Yet even wrapped in his scent, my thoughts kept drifting.
Athena.
I missed her more than I expected to. Missed the quiet way she moved, the way she listened more than she spoke. Missed how she looked at the world like she was bracing for a blow that never quite landed. Something about her felt… fragile. And wrong, like she didn’t belong where she stood.
I slid out of Eryx’s bed slowly, careful not to wake him. He
