She Was Supposed to Stay Broken, So I Let Her Think She Had novel · Chapter 25 of 40

Chapter 25: What the Morning Keeps

The council summons rests on the chair, its waxed cord still sealed. The sitting begins at first light, and Lirien gets the first public answer to Kael's statement.

Kael stands beside the bed with his shirt open at the throat. His gaze stays on my face, though his hand has lifted between us and stopped there.

'Can I take your hand?'

The question reaches me first. Then amber light blooms around his head, low and clear. A second voice runs beneath his spoken words.

'I want to touch you. I will wait if you say no.'

I keep the thought. He does not know I heard it, or that I have already read him twice.

'Yes.'

He sits beside me and lays his hand over mine. I turn my palm up, giving him room to close his fingers around it. He does not pull me closer or treat permission as a debt paid.

The summons stays on the chair. Tomorrow, the council will hear his statement, then Lirien will answer in front of the pack. Tonight does not cancel that order.

'Last night changed what I am willing to share,' I say. 'It did not change what you owe the council.'

His thumb rests against the side of my hand. 'I understand.'

'And it does not change what I owe you.'

'I have not asked you to owe me anything.'

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