Sloane's POV
But Wane's fierce words continued to pour out, unstoppable.
"Epoch, brother or not—I don't care if you saved my life. I won't hand over my mate to you as some twisted form of repayment. That's not what real heroes do. Get that through your head!"
My headache got worse.
Much worse.
And now, I was seriously worried this was about to explode into a fight that I had no hope of stopping.
But then… something strange happened.
Epoch's anger—slowly, unbelievably—started to fade.
He didn't lunge at Wane. Didn't strike. Didn't even speak. He just fixed Wane with that cold, oppressive stare of his, like he was evaluating something beneath notice.
The silence stretched.
Then came a soft, dismissive snort.
As if Wane wasn't even worth considering a threat.
Then, Epoch turned to
