Chapter 20

• Aric’s POV
• The hallways were quiet after I stormed out, the distant echoes of Zeva’s heartbeat still hammering against my chest through the bond. Each step I took was deliberate, heavy with anger and the unacknowledged fire coiling in my veins. My wolf roared beneath my skin, wild, feral, demanding her. But I refused. Refused to indulge it. Refused to let her see the weakness I hadn’t allowed myself to acknowledge for decades.
• Yet the moment I had torn her from Jacob’s side, my mind refused to stop replaying her laugh, the way her shoulders had relaxed in his presence, the way her eyes had brightened with warmth I could not give. I clenched my fists, knuckles scraping against the stone wall, and ground my teeth until they ached.