Chapter 55: Unfamiliar man
Chapter 54
Cameron
I open my eyes to Lenora holding my hand, her fingers wrapped tightly around mine like I might slip away again. Her head jerks up the moment I shift.
"Are you okay?" she asks, eyes wide with worry, scanning every inch of my face like she’s afraid I’ll vanish if she blinks.
"I guess I’m really a wolf now, seeing as I didn’t die," I mutter, voice dry and scratchy.
She lets out a wet chuckle and wipes her eyes, trying to act like she hasn’t been crying.
That feeling again—emotions that aren’t mine, but hers. I thought I imagined it last night, chalked it up to pain-induced delirium. But no. It’s real.
Relief, crashing through me like waves in a storm. And something deeper. Affection so raw, so all-consuming, I didn’t think it was possible to feel this from another person. It’s not mine.
It’s hers.
And it’s terrifying.
I understand now why mates lose their minds when one dies. Why they don’t last long after. Why people say it’s better to never bond at all than to lose what this is. I know—without a shred of drama or self-pity—that Lenora wouldn’t survive if I was gone.
It’s not an exaggeration.