ZAIN
Days passed in a haze of waiting.
I rarely left her side.
When I did, it was only because Maren forced me to leave long enough to shower or eat something—and even then, it was only minutes before I returned.
The pack adjusted around my absence. Rhys and Cian handled the patrols. Jade hovered nearby sometimes, sitting in the hall or slipping quietly into the room just to make sure Violet was still breathing. I barely acknowledged any of them. My entire world had narrowed down to the fragile girl lying in my bed, bruised and broken because of me.
Because I hadn't protected her.
Each morning, I was there when the sun bled through the curtains. I watched the slow, shallow rise of her chest, counted the beats of her heart when I could no longer trust my own ears. Her scent—usually so fresh, so stubbornly sweet—was faint under the layers of herbs and medicine.
I hated it.
Hated seeing her like this.
