The air in the cottage felt like it was made of lead, pressing down on Aria as she huddled on the edge of her mattress.
Outside, the pack was still alive with the distant, festive hum of the post-recruitment celebration, but inside their four walls, the world was ending.
The Alpha’s decree was a countdown, a clock ticking away the final hours of her life as she knew it.
She had cried until her eyes were swollen and red, yet the tears kept coming, silent and hot, soaking into the fabric of her knees.
A soft, rhythmic knock sounded against the wood of her door.
It wasn't the aggressive bang she expected from a man who had just been told his life was no longer his own.
It was hesitant, almost fragile.
“Aria?” Liam’s voice was a low, jagged rasp.
“Please. Open the door.”
Aria didn't
