49. Her Vulnerability

|| Alaric’s POV || I never thought I would feel this way for someone. Every little thing about her made my heart race. Her smile, the way her loose curls framed her face, the mischievous glint in her eyes when she teased me. But there were moments, fleeting and rare, when the warmth in her eyes would vanish, replaced by a hollow emptiness that made her seem like a completely different person. It was as if she carried a weight too heavy for her shoulders, a pain she refused to share. And then there was her scent lavender, soft and intoxicating, driving me and my wolf to the edge of madness. What kind of spell had she cast on me? I didn’t know, but I was utterly and irrevocably under it. This cabin had always been my sanctuary, my solitude. It was the one place where I could escape the chaos of the world and just be myself. I had never brought anyone here before. It was too personal, too sacred. But here she was, lying on my lap as if she had always belonged here, as if this space had be