Ashriel's POV
The anger, hot and sharp, flared within me, battling with a desperate despair. How could she say such things? How could she deny what was so undeniably there? The bond thrummed, a constant, agonizing pull, a reminder of what she was, what we were meant to be. Every word she’d uttered, every sharp retort, every dismissive glance, had chipped away at me, leaving me raw and exposed. And yet, beneath it all, my wolf still yearned, still pulsed with that primal need for her. He wanted to claim her, to soothe her anger, to make her see. He wanted that release, that deep, soul-satisfying connection that only a mate could provide. It was a craving, a deep emptiness that had only grown since she arrived.
I couldn’t stay there, not another second. The air in the small room had felt t
