Chapter 169: Alpha’s Silent Care
Evaline:
I stirred from sleep slowly, almost unwillingly. The warmth of the bed and the steady rhythm of someone’s hand moving through my hair kept me from leaving behind this rare moment of peace.
Whoever it was, they had such a gentle touch - so soft, so careful - it made me want to stay in that limbo between sleep and awareness for just a little longer.
But the hand stilled, and that sudden pause pulled me from my comfort. I blinked open my eyes and the hospital room’s dim lighting greeted me first... and then him.
Draven.
I almost didn’t believe it. For a long second, I wondered if I was dreaming again - like I had on the other nights since Friday, where my subconscious conjured him just to break me all over again when I woke up alone. But this wasn’t a dream.
He was here.
He was sitting beside me with that familiar stoic expression, his eyes shadowed with something deeper. Guilt? Regret? Relief? I didn’t know.
We stared at each other while locked in a silence that was pressing like a weight on my chest. I wanted to say something. Stars, I needed to say something. But the words got stuck somewhere between my throat and heart.
What was I supposed to say?
I was glad to see him, but terrified too. My gaze drank him in, finding him as beautiful as I remembered. But unlike Oscar, he didn’t rush to hold me, to kiss my forehead, or tell me everything was going to be alright. No, Draven was not Oscar. I had to stop expecting him to be.