- Aria -
The first thing I noticed wasn’t the way Luca bent forward in the driver’s seat.
And it was the smell.
A wolf notices every little change in the air and the skin. His usual calm, metallic scent was gone, replaced by a heat that smelled like burnt herbs and something dark—like blood that had been sitting out too long.
“Luca,” I said again, slower this time.
He didn’t say a word. He just sat there with his head down and his elbows on his knees, breathing hard. He was gritting his teeth so hard I was worried they’d actually break.
The street was quiet. One of those empty stretches where the city pretended nothing bad ever happened.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned closer. “Hey. Look at me.”
He gripped his stomach even tighter, his fingers digging in as if
