Chapter 28 The Distance Between Us

• Lyra's POV
• I woke the next morning with a quiet warmth settled under my ribs, the kind I had almost forgotten how to feel. Rowan was still beside me. For the first time in a long while I let myself believe that maybe this—us—could be real, that a future with him might actually exist beyond the bond and the pack’s expectations. Memories of the night before flickered through my mind: how boldly I had asked for him, how he had answered. A flush of embarrassment rose, but it was soft, almost sweet. I had wanted him, and he had wanted me.
• I turned toward him, expecting the steady rise and fall of sleep. Instead he was already awake, eyes fixed on the ceiling. I smiled and shifted closer on the mattress, seeking the solid heat of his body the way I had all night.