★Nuel's POV★
"Laila?" I called, my voice trembling as I whipped my eyes open to find a familiar face looking down at me. My back met the familiar sting of the hardback beneath me—the same hard surface I'd felt the first time I'd woken up inside this hut. It was nothing like the soft mattress at Alpha Noca's fortress.
I blinked rapidly, trying to force my head to turn, to confirm where I truly was—whether I was back in the hut or home again in my father's West Wing. My heart pounded painfully as I took in her face once more.
"Laila?" I called again, this time steadier, my voice carrying more life than before.
She didn't speak immediately. She only sat there, staring—eyes wide, mouth slightly open, her body trembling as if she too couldn't believe I was real. And when I forced myself to rise despite the sharp ache in every inch of my body, she rushed toward me, her arms reaching to stop me from moving.
