Ava's POV
Victor’s voice cut through the silence. I stopped.
My wolf paused with me, alert.
Slowly, I turned back. “Not really,” I said.
And this time… it was mostly true. I had been angry. Furious, even. But that was yesterday.
Now? Now I accepted it. He never liked me anyway. So why would he step in? Why would he protect me?
Beyond the legal tie and mate bond between us… we were nothing.
“Yesterday’s issue was about the Stone family’s business,” he continued. “It wasn’t my place to step in.”
My expression didn’t change.
“Don’t blame Laura,” he added. “She meant well.”
My wolf went still. Then, a slow, simmering irritation spread through me. So that was it.
He thought I was upset because of Laura.
He thought this… all of this… was about her.
A bitter laugh slipped out before
