ROWAN
The taste of Maribel’s lips should have been enough. It should have grounded me. It should have ended the restless edge that never fully went away.
Instead, it left me empty.
That hollow feeling settled in right away, familiar and unwelcome. It had followed every encounter with her for nearly a year now. No warmth. No peace. Just the sense that something was missing and could not be replaced.
The office felt too still. I stood by the window, staring out over the pack grounds. Wolves crossed the open space below with discipline and intent. Patrols shifted cleanly. Orders were carried out without question. The land ran the way it was supposed to.
Their Alpha did not.
None of them could feel the war tearing through my chest. None of them knew how close I was to losing control.
S
