JAKE'S POV
I have been giving my mate space to adapt to me, to the bond, but Griffin wasn't too happy about that.
So he shut me down. My wolf, silent. Refusing to talk to me, refusing to move with me. Just… brooding in the back of my mind like a storm cloud waiting to break.
I’d never felt him this restless before. Never felt him so angry with me. It was like holding a caged beast that kept slamming itself against the bars.
You’re weak, he had growled the last time I heard him. A mate is not meant to be given space. She is meant to be claimed.
But Griffin didn’t understand. Ella wasn’t ready. She flinched every time I got too close, every time the bond pulled at her. She was hiding something—I could feel it, even if she thought she was good at keeping it buried.
And still… I missed h
