Moments later,

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The words hung in the sharp, cold air between them, heavy and final, and for a heartbeat Julian stared at Aria like he had not heard her right - like he could not believe anyone would dare speak to him that way, not when he was the Crown Prince, not when he had offered her everything she could ever want.

Then humiliation burned away into raw, blinding rage, and his wolf rose up in him, snarling, drowning out every last trace of reason, every warning voice, every memory of how she had already proven she did not play by his rules.

He did not think. He did...