"Isn't Rey waiting for you downstairs?" I asked, keeping my tone steady while his Alpha presence still lingered in the air, heavy with exhaustion rather than command, brushing against my instincts in a subtle, unsettling way.
"I told him to leave," Elliot replied as he lowered himself onto my couch, his large frame settling into the cushions while he rubbed his eyes, the strain in his aura softened but not gone, as though his dominance had been forced into restraint by sheer fatigue.
"Look at you… you're completely drained," I said, a hint of irritation slipping through despite myself. "Next time, return to your own territory instead of coming here."
"I rest like a cub when I'm here," he said in a rough voice, already sinking deeper as if his body recognized this space as safe. "At home, I can't settle enough to sleep."
