– C
Tyler's note:
Lila said you're a badass. She's not wrong. Rest as long as you need.
– T
Julian's note:
Heat duration: 18 hours, 23 minutes. Well within normal parameters. Your autonomy throughout was noted and respected. Archives have post-heat recovery protocolsif you want them.
– J
I read them twice.
Then a third time.
Something warm and certain unfolds in my chest.
I rise slowly, legs shaky, and dress in clean clothes. I drink the lemon water standing by the window, looking out at the morning.
When I'm ready, I open the door and step into the hallway. It's empty.
I walk back toward Hawthorn Hall at my own pace, notes folded carefully in my pocket.
The campus is quiet. Early morning. A few students passing, voices low. No one stares. No one asks. I'm just another omega, the day after, even though I’m not the same person I was yesterday.
When I reach my room, I set the notes on my desk beside Mira's honey jar.
Then I sit on the edge of my bed and let myself feel everything. The soreness. The exhaustion. The clarity.
Now I know what's possible.
Now I know what I want.
13
ELOWEN
Rain patters against the window,soft and steady. October rain, the kind that settles in for hours.
The sound pulls me from sleep slowly, body heavy with exhaustion that goes deeper than muscle. My thighs ache. My lower back is tight. My jaw feels tender from clenching through waves that still echo faintly in memory.
But the heat is gone.
Lying still, listening to the rain, the soreness becomes manageable. Aftermath. The cost of choosing awareness over ease.
Worth it.
Careful movements bring me upright, legs swinging over the side of the bed. The floor is cool beneath my feet, grounding, real. The room smells like me again. Not the thick sweetness of heat-scent, but chamomile and clean linen and the faint herbal tang that clings to everything.
The three notes are on my desk. My fingers trace the folded edges.
Calder's neat script. Tyler's easy scrawl. Julian's precise lettering.
You were right. You didn't need us inside. But we needed to be close.
Lila said you're a badass. She's not wrong. Rest as long as you need.
