Aurelian Vale,
I freeze when I hear footsteps coming down the stairs,
I don't need to turn around to know who it is. However, the fact that he's awake… by this time, worried me.
Ethan rarely wakes this early after a night like that.
Especially not after I had to steady him with my pheromones for hours.
I stand at the cooker, stirring slowly, with my attention divided between the pan in front of me and the quiet presence that has now settled behind me.
He's standing at the doorway, just looking at me, but he hasn't spoken yet.
I don't acknowledge him because I don't know what he wants, so I just keep cooking. While he stands there… Watching.
The air between us is different this morning.
Not unstable or suffocating like last night. But it's not right either.
His scent is faint… Too faint.
Dulled in a way that tells me his body is exhausted from trying too hard to regulate itself.
It makes him calm at least.
