Present Day.
For a moment, I thought my wolf would tear free of my skin.
Instead, she recoiled.
I stepped back, my breath steady, my spine straight, and walked away without a sound. I refused them the drama. I refused Selene the satisfaction of seeing me break at Clay’s door like a discarded thing.
I returned to my chambers and waited.
When Selene came to me later, she did not pretend innocence.
That was perhaps the cruellest part.
She did not knock. She entered as she always had, with the confidence of someone who believed she still belonged. Her eyes were sharp, her mouth curved in something like triumph, though she tried to mask it behind indifference.
“So,” she said lightly, closing the door behind her. “You saw.”
I faced her slowly. “Get out.”
She laughed. Softly mocking me.
