***CONRY***

The morning light crept through the cracks of the curtains, soft and golden, painting faint stripes across the stone floor. I lay awake long before dawn, staring at the ceiling, the memories of last night still vivid in my mind.

Her kiss.

It hadn’t been long — a brief brush of warmth — but it had haunted me the entire night. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it again. The gentleness of it. The hesitation. The way she said ‘good night, Alpha’ as though the words carried ...