Damien
I used to think strength meant control.
Holding everything in. Wearing silence like armor. Playing the part of the perfect heir, the flawless Alpha-to-be. No weakness. No hesitation. And especially—no feelings. I was good at it, and nothing bothered me.
But Scarlet always managed to shatter those illusions with her wild eyes, her fire-forged words, and that unbearable defiance that made me want to strangle her and kiss her in the same breath.
I didn’t know it then, I was already on the path to losing everything I thought made me strong.
And maybe that’s the only reason I’ve become something else. Someone else.
Someone who can sit in this chair, on this cursed lakefront, heart thudding like a guilty man’s drum, and wait for her to walk in—knowing I don’t deserve it, knowing she
