nore

crackled, suddenly t

de, innocent eyes filled with a theatrical panic. Tears still c

air, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face at the interr

n my arms felt heavier than a block of lead. I placed it

made Ang

y eyes locked on Cristian, refusing to acknowledge the othe

fake sobs. "Luna, you're misunderstanding! I was just... I h

word. His gaze was cold and assessing as he stud

planation. It w

s. It was a raw, ugly sound.

with the pressure of his barely contro

fault," she whispered, wringing her hands. "I shouldn't have bothered the Alpha... I'

," I

ut the sheer force of will behind

ed me to stay away from her," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "Yet here you are, t

eant to intimidate, to dominate. "What I do d

ss. "I don't want your explanation. I just want to know one thing." My heart was

he one I'd been too afra

elena stood by the door, holding her breath. Cris

door. A complex emotion I couldn't decipher crossed his face. Then his

carefully sharpened knife, s

special

ec

sterpiece of cruelty. It was a confession and a dismissal all in one.

ide me, the last fragile thing that

It was a soft, quiet sound of utter defeat. I nodd

. On the wreckage of my marriage. I walked out of the

through the glass walls, bright and blinding

y hands gripping the steering wheel, my knuckles white. The city

found myself parked across the street from a small, chic art gallery. I v

the clean white walls, the abstract splashes of color on canvas-I needed to be so

ing of black and red when a fami

eon

mpagne in his hand. He was dressed in a tailored cas

ide that neither side had ever fully forgiven. But rivalry wasn't war. A fragile truce had held for over a decade, maintained thro

l, a rival Alpha invited only out of necessity. I remembered him mostly as a quiet, watchful presence, raising his glass to me once f

person I expecte

and his friendly expression immediatel

ke my face was made of cracked p

rising comfort. He gestured toward the painting I'd been loo

my swirling chaos. "He always had a taste for things that glittered. Bright, shiny, a

hey landed like a soothing balm on a raw, bleeding wound. Fo