The dishes felt strangely heavy as I walked away from Loren, though they weren’t the cause of the sudden, staggering weight on my chest. It was the weight of an unexpected, unwelcome feeling that had unsettled me.
What truly surprised me about our interaction was the visceral, almost primal reaction I was having to his seemingly innocent, charming flattery. He had been polite, perhaps a little too flirtatious given his relationship to Mayari, but there wasn't anything overtly malicious or hidden in his action, just a younger male wolf being instinctively bold.
He was just being polite, and having such a dramatic physical and emotional reaction towards my daughter's boyfriend sent genuine chills of deep self-betrayal down my spine.
"A woman who looks like you shouldn't be overlooked by a
