Evaline:
The moment Draven and I stepped inside my dorm room, a strange calm settled over me.
It was the kind that came after a storm, unnatural and almost too still, like the world was holding its breath.
He locked the bedroom door behind us without a word. His movements were silent but... protective. I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t. The pressure behind my eyes was building, threatening to spill. If I looked at him, I knew I was going to fall apart.
So I walked straight to my bed and sat down with a dull thud. My towel was long replaced with pajamas - warm, clean clothes that should have brought me comfort but were feeling like paper on a raw wound. I drew my legs up and wrapped my arms around them, burying my face in my knees.
The bed dipped slightly as he joined me.
And then... I felt his arms wrapping around me.
I didn’t stop him.
I didn’t want to.
He didn’t speak at first, just held me. His arms were strong and grounding, not too tight, not too loose. It was like he knew exactly what I needed without me saying a word. And then his hand came up, brushing slowly through my damp hair, his voice whispering low into my ear.
"You are safe now."
That was all it took.
The tears came like a dam breaking. Big, ugly, uncontrollable sobs tore out of me before I could stop them.
I clutched at his shirt, burying my face into his chest as he held me through it, rocking us ever so gently.
"I have got you," he kept murmuring, again and again. His voice was the only thing keeping me from shattering completely. "I’m here, Eva. No one’s ever going to touch you like that again. I swear it."
I didn’t know how long I cried. Time blurred. Minutes felt like hours, hours like seconds. But he stayed. He didn’t shift, didn’t move away, didn’t grow impatient.
He just... stayed. And held me like I was precious. Like I was his whole world.
Even when tears finally stopped coming, I stayed in his arms, breathing in the scent of him - pine, fresh, and something uniquely him that always made me feel... less alone.
I had spent so long trying to keep him at arm’s length.
Pushing him away. Drawing imaginary lines between us. Telling myself that I couldn’t afford to be close to anyone, least of my mate who was one of the Rogue Alpha. That it was safer this way. That I didn’t want him getting too close, didn’t want to be something fragile in his world of strength and power.
But tonight, right now, I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.
He had always been there.
From the moment he accepted our bond, he had done nothing but try. And I... I was the one being unkind. Maybe not intentionally. Maybe not cruelly. But I kept dismissing his devotion like it was nothing. I took it for granted, his quiet, patient presence.
And now, in his arms, I was realizing just how much he felt for me.
I pulled away just enough to look at him, wiping at my tear-streaked cheeks.
"I’m sorry," I whispered.
His brows pulled together, confused. "For what?"
"For not letting you in," I breathed. "For making you feel like you didn’t matter. For pretending to not see everything you have done for me until now."
His face softened. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against my forehead. "You never have to apologize to me, Eva. I told you... I’ll wait for you. As long as it takes."
My heart squeezed at the sincerity in his voice.
He brushed his thumb against my cheek, and I leaned into the touch instinctively.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" he asked gently.
I closed my eyes, feeling the sharp sting of the memory - the cruel words, the hands reaching for me, the humiliation curling inside my gut.
But I was so tired.
Of thinking. Of hurting.
"No," I murmured. "I just want to forget about it for now. Please... just make it go away."
He hesitated for a beat. Then, with a ghost of a smile, he leaned closer. "I can do that."
"How?"
His lips brushed against mine in answer. "Like this."
The kiss was soft at first. Barely there. Like a promise whispered on lips that had never lied to me.
Then it deepened.
He kissed me like I was something holy. Like I was the answer to every question his soul had ever asked.
My fingers tangled in his shirt, pulling him closer without thinking. His hand cupped my face, thumb caressing my cheek as his lips moved slowly. He was patient, indulgent. Not demanding, but worshipping.
My body responded without hesitation, instinctively arching toward him while my heart pounded against my ribs like a caged bird.
When his tongue flicked gently against mine, my breath hitched, and I let him in.
The kiss grew - longer, warmer, wetter. He tasted like fire and heat, like something wild I didn’t want to tame. Every stroke of his tongue was sending sparks through me, a hum in my chest that pulsed with something more.
The closeness awakened the mate bond.
I felt it bloom inside me like spring after a long winter, glowing gold and bright where it had once been silent. It pulsed between us, soft but undeniable. It was a connection of between our souls.
And the way he responded to it, the way he cradled me like I was breakable and sacred... I had never felt anything like it.
He laid me down on the bed with a gentleness I hadn’t known he possessed. He hovered over me, lips brushing down my jaw, my neck, the delicate space just below my ear.
My breath started coming in soft pants,and my body was trembling not from fear but from need.
But he didn’t push.
Even as his hands explored, sliding over my arms, my sides, my hips... he never crossed the line. Every kiss, every touch was a question, and every time I tensed or hesitated, he responded by slowing down, grounding me again with a press of his forehead to mine.
"You are mine," he whispered against my lips, kissing me again, slower this time. "But I’ll never take more than you want to give."
And I knew he meant it. I knew I could stop him with a look, a breath, and he would listen.
So I let him love me in his way.
With kisses that tasted like promises. With touches that asked nothing in return. With warmth that filled the cracks I hadn’t even realized were still bleeding.
I held onto him like I had never held anyone before.
Because maybe for the first time since my world fell apart... I had someone worth holding onto.
And he never let go.