The name “Ethan” on my phone’s screen was like a punch to the stomach.
My hand trembled, and for a moment, the world around me faded—the purr of Caleb’s luxury sedan’s engine, the scent of new leather inside, even the warmth of his presence beside me. Everything narrowed down to that name, an echo of betrayal I thought I had left behind in Moon’s Fang.
Clarisa growled in my mind, restless, as if she could still feel the pull of the mate bond I had tried to sever by rejecting him.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Not with Caleb watching me from the driver’s seat, his eyes scanning my face with a mix of curiosity and concern.
“Everything okay, Hil?” he asked, his voice soft but with an edge that made me sit straighter. There was something in his tone, like he could smell my nerves, even thou
