Annie's POV:
My cheek throbbed.
The pain went deep, radiating from the point of impact down to my jaw and into my ear. I could feel the skin swelling, tight and hot. I knew that by tomorrow it would be a mottled purple bruise that no collar could hide.
But I didn't raise a hand to touch it.
I didn't dare.
Because Elena's presence was crushing me.
It came in waves. Dense, suffocating, Luna-level dominance pressing down on my shoulders like a physical weight. She hadn't moved. Hadn't even tried. But the force of her wolf's presence alone turned my knees to water.
I was wolfless. I had no wolf to push back against her. No inner beast to shield my mind from the pressure. I was just human. Fragile. Breakable. Completely defenseless against a dominant she-wolf's passive aura.
And Elena w
