Rowan’s POV
The day after the locker room mess, I still couldn't get the sight out of my head. Ash's face…those bindings round his chest. I walked the halls with Alec at my side, his chatter a constant hum against the knot in my chest that hadn’t loosened since I left Ash standing there, breathing hard, eyes flashing defiance.
My wolf hadn’t shut up since, pacing, growling, urging me to go back, to push harder, to figure out what that flinch meant, what that strip of fabric was hiding.
It wasn’t normal, bindings like that, tight and hidden, it made me think dark thoughts, rituals maybe, forbidden magic that could twist a wolf’s aura into something unnatural.
Ash smelled wrong sometimes, metallic and cool, like silver tainted with shadow, and if he was dabbling in dark magic, that wo
