I nodded wearily, my gaze fixed on Elliot as he slept beneath the dim hospital lights. His Alpha presence had finally stabilized. The sedative had overpowered the drug from earlier, and the IV line now fed steadily into his arm, restoring balance to a body that had been forced into unstable instinct.
Watching him like this made everything replay in my mind.
Aliona's suite. The glassy, unfocused look in his eyes. The way his instincts had been twisted into something dangerous and uncontrolled.
She hadn't just wanted him—she had planned to trap him. A forced bond through manipulation, using circumstance to corner an Alpha into responsibility.
A cold anger settled in my chest.
It was a clever plan.
But I had been faster.
I caught it before it could take root.
Relief followed immediately after, sharp and heavy. If I hadn't gone to the gala with him, if I hadn't gone upstairs, he would've fallen straight into her trap without resistance.
