DAMIEN

“Do it already—I can’t stand the coldness radiating from you anymore,” she said, pulling me out of my thoughts. My mind had drifted, stuck on the one word that lingered after everything she said: *trust.*

What the hell made her say that? Trust? From her?

I let out a low chuckle, more to myself, at the absurdity of it. Trust was a concept I couldn’t even entertain, yet hearing it from her did something strange to me. It left a faint buzz in my chest—a feeling I couldn’t name.

My attention shifted to her mate’s wolf, who had risen and now stood protectively at her side, its piercing gaze...