Chapter 93
Chapter 93
Kaeleen’s POV
The first thing I registered when I woke up was the silence. Not the comfortable, early-morning quiet of the pack house, but a hollow silence. My phone buzzed on the nightstand. A single text from Serena.
’Happy birthday, little brother.’
A small, humorless smile touched my lips. Trust Serena to be the first to wish me a happy birthday. I tossed the phone back on the bed and rolled over. I quickly had a bath and changed my clothes and went searching for Astrid.
I found her in the kitchen, laughing about something with one of the cooks. She looked up as I entered, her face breaking into that smile that still had the power to stop my heart.
"Good morning," she said, her voice bright and cheerful.
And that was it. Just... ’good morning’.
A strange, cold knot formed in my stomach. I know I’m not one for big celebrations. I’ve spent most of my birthdays actively avoiding any fuss. But this was different. This was the first one with her. I thought... I don’t know what I thought. Maybe just a word. A look. Something to acknowledge that today was different from yesterday. But her eyes held nothing but their usual morning warmth. It was like she’d forgotten.
The feeling followed me to the office, a dull, persistent ache behind my ribs. Alex had called in sick, his voice on the phone sounding suspiciously sounding well for a man supposedly laid low by a fever. It meant I was left to handle the final preparations for the new software release alone. The day dragged on, a monotonous cycle of code reviews, server checks, and endless emails. The hours bled into one another, marked only by the shifting light outside my window.