But Darren, pale and shaken, staggers upright, his gaze darting between Selene and me.
“I–I didn’t know,” he stammers, panic etched across his face. “I didn’t know she was—”
He cuts himself off and bolts into the darkness, branches snapping under his boots as he flees.
“Darren!” Selene calls after him, voice breaking with frustration.
She takes a step as if to chase after him, but he’s already gone. Her shoulders stiffen, her hands curling into fists as she turns back to me, quivering with rage.
“You had no right,” she spits at me bitterly. “No right at all.”
I take a step toward her, fury still burning through me.
“No right?” My voice is low, sharp enough to cut. “You drag a man you barely know into the woods, half drunk, and you think I won’t notice?”
She stiffens, eyes flashing.
