I understood.
Kody was furious.
He was protecting me.
But I also knew this wasn’t the way.
“Please,” I murmured. “He’s already lost everything. There’s no victory in breaking him further.”
A tense silence filled the room.
Then, with a slow, controlled movement, Kody released him.
Frankie collapsed to the ground, coughing violently, his hands clawing at his own throat as he gasped for air.
Kody stepped back, rolling his shoulders, still seething, still radiating danger.
His eyes burned into Frankie’s weakened form, his voice a deadly promise.
“You come near my mate again,” he growled, “and you won’t live to regret it.”
The weight of his words settled like an unmovable force.
Frankie, still gasping, glared up at me with something close to hatred—but it was weaker now. Hollow.
Be
