He laughed bitterly. “If I could redo my life, I’d have left you rotting wherever I found you. I should’ve chosen Camille. She knows how to stand beside an Alpha. She knows when to stay quiet.”
Still, I said nothing. Silence sharpens patience. Silence hunts.
Anger flared at my stillness. He kicked my knee hard, pain bursting through me—but instead of collapsing, something inside me loosened. Uncoiled. He turned away, disgusted. “You’re too old for drama.”
His phone rang. His voice softened instantly. “Hey, beautiful,” he said, young again. “Yeah, I’m packing. Just you and me. Open water.”
I stayed where I was—not because I was weak, but because what shook through me wasn’t pain.
It was awakening.
Power surged beneath my skin, ancient and feral, pressing against years of restraint. My breath tore from my chest, my nails cut into my palms, my teeth ached with a need that wasn’t human.
They thought they had erased me.
But the moon was rising.
And the wolf in my blood had never forgotten who she was.
They were wrong.
I didn’t chase after Alpha Thorne Darkhowl.