Aria.
I stood frozen, the little box clutched tightly in my hands. My heart felt heavy, torn between the pity that ached in my chest for him and the hollow truth pressing against my ribs.
Luke wanted me. In his own way, he’d tried to choose me. And maybe part of me wanted to be chosen, wanted to lean into the warmth of someone who offered me affection without hesitation.
But my heart wasn’t his. It was tangled somewhere else. With someone I wasn’t supposed to want.
The air inside the pack house suddenly felt thick with laughter, sweat, and music. It pressed in on me from every direction, suffocating me until I felt like I could hardly breathe. Every cheer, every burst of drunken giggling seemed like a reminder of what I had lost, what my people were still enduring.
My chest tightened
