Alpha Terrell's POV
I lasted only three hours.
Three hours of lying on my back staring at the ceiling while my mind ran the same circuit over and over - the loose window latch I'd tightened, the door I'd locked, the guards posted in the corridor - checking and rechecking the mental inventory of every possible exit from that room like a man counting coins he doesn't trust himself to have actually counted.
It wasn't enough.
I got up, pulled on a shirt, and went down the corridor.
The guard outside her door straightened when he saw me. I dismissed him with a look, took out my key, and let myself in.
The room was dark - the candles long since burned down, the moonless night pressing flat against the windows. I locked the door behind me and stood still while my eyes adjusted.
There.
The shape of her under the covers, one arm curled beneath her head, her hair spread dark across the pillow. The slow, even rhythm of her breathing. Completely, peacefully, unconscious.
