It hit me in a moment of blinding clarity that he’d been doing exactly that for a while.
Watching. Waiting. Protecting us both.
I swallowed. “How long?—?”
“A while,” Jay said, voice soft. “You needed the rest.”
My cheeks burned, and not from the fever of my body. Still, I didn’t look away.
I couldn’t.
Because something in his gaze told me that this wasn’t pity. It was something else. Understanding and maybe—if I was brave enough to name it—respect.
I shifted under the blanket, muscles stiff and skin too warm. It took effort to focus past the heat coiling low and tight in my core. Everything felt slow. Hazy. Like waking from a fever dream only to realize I was still dreaming.
Jay didn’t move, but his gaze softened, just slightly.
“How long have I really been asleep?” I asked, the past two days had been such a blur for me and I couldn’t recall how much, if any, real sleep I’d had.
“Six hours,” he said. “Give or take.”
Six. Not nearly enough. But far more than I expected.
My eyes flicked to Roan again, then back to Jay. “Has he… has he taken a break at all?”
“No.” Jay gave a slight shake of his head. “Won’t let either of us near you for long. You were restless. Kept reaching out in your sleep.” He didn’t say what I already knew, that it had been Roan I was reaching for.
“And he stayed.” Wonder unfolded inside of me. Humbled wonder because what alpha did that without question or reward? They were just as much at the mercy of their biological instincts as I was, but here he was.
“He stayed,” Jay confirmed. “Hasn’t eaten much. Hasn’t moved. Not even to lie down. Just sat there. Like that.”
Likethis. With me. Arms around me like a barrier, his body the still center of something I couldn’t name.
I swallowed again, throat dry. My stomach growled weakly, a cramp blooming in my side like it had just remembered I was human, too.
“Good timing.” Jay’s lips quirked, the ghost of a smile. “You’re due for food.”
He stood, moving silently to the desk and returning with the container I’d smelled earlier—broth, rice, maybe some root vegetables. Something easy. Comforting. Warm.
He crouched next to the bed, setting it down on the nightstand before reaching for a spoon. I went to lift my arms—and stopped.
The blanket.
Roan had wrapped me so securely I couldn’t get either hand free without unwrapping myself entirely. And there was nowayI was doing that with my heat still burning and him still holding me like I might break apart if he let go.
My jaw clenched slightly. “I can feed myself.”
Jay tilted his head, amused but gentle. “I believe you. But you’re also mummified.”
“Roan’s fault.” I glared at first the man holding me in place, then the man offering to feed me. Honestly, I couldn’t even hold that fierce look for long. They werehere. They didn’t deserve my temper.
“You tried to touch him,” Jay said, like it was a known fact. “And he didn’t want to take chances. You wouldn’t stay under otherwise.”
I muttered something under my breath—he didn’t ask me to repeat it. Instead, he just sat back down on the edge of the mattress, spoon in hand.
“Let me help.”
I hesitated. Every part of me balked at the idea of beingfedlike I was fragile. I wasn’t. I was still strong. Still me.
