DANTE’S POV
Denial had always been my strongest armor especially when it came to Selene and everything that concerned this mate bond. I wore it like a crown, like a second spine rigid, unyielding, impossible to bend. Whatever Selene was doing, whatever distance she was carving into the bond, I refused to acknowledge it as loss. Loss implied failure, and I did not fail. She was confused. Misled. Influenced. That was all, Lucas had been manipulating her and the results of that manipulation were finally showing.
The pack needed certainty, and I would give it to them even if I had to lie to myself to do it. I buried myself in work. Training schedules, patrol rotations, council correspondence anything that required my full attention. I tightened borders, doubled guards, sharpened discipline.
