Next To Me • Paul Lahote [1] ( REWRITING )
In the quiet solitude of his self-imposed exile, Paul Lahote grappled with the weight of his decision. Each day away from Delaney was a battle against his nature, a struggle between his instinct to protect and the ache of separation. The woods whispered her name, and the wind carried echoes of their laughter, but he stood firm, believing distance was the only shield he could offer her from the dangers of their world.As a shapeshifter, Paul was no stranger to the turmoil of transformation, but nothing tested him like the absence of Delaney. She was the calm in his storm, the anchor to his humanity.When Delaney stepped into the circle of the pack, marking her place as the tribe's inaugural female shapeshifter, it was a defining moment that reshaped centuries of tradition and expectation. Pride swelled in Paul's chest, mingled with a new surge of fear. He knew the trials she would face, the strength required to embrace the beast within. Yet, he also knew Delaney's resilience, her unyielding spirit that forgave and understood far beyond what most could fathom.Their reunion was inevitable, a collision of past and present, of human and beast. Paul's eyes, once filled with secrets, now reflected a promise-a vow to stand by her, to face the future next to her, no longer as her protector, but as her equal, her partner in the dance of their intertwined fates.BOOK ONE [ REWRITING] COVER BY @ nightwvngs…