Vael's POV
The moment we found him, the world narrowed to a single point of desperate relief.
Lirien was trembling in our arms, his slender body so fragile after three days of captivity. I held him tighter than I ever had before, one arm wrapped securely around his back while my other hand cradled the back of his head, fingers threading through his silver-white hair. Davis pressed close on his other side, his larger frame creating a protective wall around our omega. The warehouse district smelled of rust, damp concrete, and gunpowder, but all I could focus on was Lirien's sweet, familiar scent, now laced with fear and exhaustion.
Tears streamed freely down my face as I buried my nose in his hair, breathing him in like a dying man gulps air. "I missed you so much, baby," I whispered, voice cracking with raw emotion. "I thought I was going to lose my mind without you. Every second you were gone… it felt like dying."
