This chapter is unedited
Alaric's POV
The silence that followed was thicker than any darkness I'd ever known. It settled over me, cruel and stifling. The bed still bore the warmth of where he'd sat just seconds ago. Now it was empty, like the space in my chest where his presence used to be.
I stood there for a long while, frozen, letting the silence bleed into my bones.
He left.
He really left.
I ran a hand over my face, fingers trembling, heart thudding with a dull ache. Not the hunger anymore God, no. That had died the moment he looked at me like I was something other. Something broken. Something wrong.
My fangs were gone, but I could still feel the phantom ache of them, like a scar no one could see. Maybe it wasn't the fangs or the speed or even the wound that made him leave.
Maybe it was me.
