LUCIAN
The door slams behind her, and the silence she leaves behind tastes like rust.
I exhale, low and sharp, rubbing a hand over my face.
I stare at the space she just occupied, the faint echo of her scent still dawdling in the room. My hands clench at my sides, still tweaking from the fight I started and didn’t know how to finish. My heart still pounds violently, but the heat in my chest is no longer anger, it's regret.
“You messed up.” Fenrir’s voice cuts through the fog in my mind, like a low rumble. He's not just annoyed, he's furious. “You snapped at our mate. Over something she didn’t even control. That wasn’t dominance. That was cowardice.”
“Shut up,” I mutter aloud, dragging a hand down my face as I pace to the window. I pull the curtain aside, staring out into the moonli
