Chapter 343

DEREK’S POV By the time I reached the east corridor, I could already hear her voice — soft but steady — drifting from the open library doors. Aurelia. The sound alone made my pulse stumble. She was talking to someone, her tone clipped but controlled, her words too quiet for me to make out. I hesitated, leaning against the archway before stepping inside. And then I saw him. Micah. Standing too close. His posture was casual, almost protective, and Aurelia was facing him — the two of them caught in the kind of conversation that stops the air itself from moving. The moment they noticed me, they froze. The silence that followed was thick, tense. Micah’s face smoothed over instantly — the perfect mask of loyalty — but Aurelia’s eyes flickered, wide for just a heartbeat before she looked away. Something in my chest tightened. “Am I interrupting something?” Micah was the first to respond. “No, Alpha. We were just—” “Discussing something important?” I finished for him, letting my voice carry th