LATER THAT NIGHT
I lie in bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to ignore how every muscle in my body screams from the trial. Despite my exhaustion, my mind won't quiet.
The bone token sits on my nightstand, still pulsing with ancient power. The cave's challenges replay in my mind—the crumbling floors, the flooding chamber, that final leap to safety. Pride fills me, mingling with something I’ve never felt before. Worthiness.
I did it; I proved myself.
And Lucian's words at the ceremony, the heat in his eyes when he pinned the token to my collar, it was more than just approval. It was hunger, a memory that makes my heart race even as I try to deny the pull between us.
A knock sounds at the door, breaking through my thoughts. I sit up, heart fluttering, knowing instinctively who it is.
When I open the door, Lucian stands there, his presence filling the doorway, intense and commanding, yet softer somehow, as though he's taken off some of his armor just for me. In his hands, he holds a small glass jar of soothing balm, the faint scent of herbs drifting from it.
I thought you might need something to help ease the soreness," he says, his voice low and warm. The unexpected gentleness in his gaze—so at odds with the fierce Alpha who commanded me through the deadly Ancient Trial just hours ago—makes my heart flutter and my defenses crack. He steps inside, holding up the jar. "May I?"