"Lori," he sounded as if he was in pain, "my… my stomach hurts."
I mumbled a response, but exhaustion pulled me back into the depths of sleep. In a dream, I vaguely heard my mate calling my name, but the sound felt distant and unimportant.
Sometime later, I was jolted awake by the sound of the door opening. Roan stood by the bed, his face etched with pain.
"Lori, why don’t you care anymore? You used to worry when I was sick!"
His words stirred memories I had tried to bury. Once, when Roan had a stomachache, I rushed to his office with medicine, despite the pouring rain. I arrived soaked and disheveled, a sight that drew laughter from his wolf subordinates. Roan had done nothing to stop them from mocking me—the Luna! Instead, he told me not to come to his office again because, in his words, I was an embarrassment.
If it hadn’t been for Beta Gavin and his thoughtful gesture of warming me up with my favorite chocolate tea, I might have shivered all the way back to the pack house. Gavin had always been my quiet savior. Every time Roan disrespected me or treated me like a mere servant, Gavin was there, finding ways to support me.