Malric's Pov

The road back home felt endless.

Every step I took seemed heavier than the last, and the silence in my head was deafening. The night wind howled past my ears, but all I could hear was Delilah's voice echoing in my mind-"I never want to see your face again. Please, leave."

It stung more than a thousand blades.

I kept replaying it again and again until it became a rhythm of pain-sharp, merciless, and constant. I tried to reason with myself, to find an excuse that made sense, but nothing did. I'd lost her. Just like that.

Without another thought, I shifted-bones cracking, muscles expanding-until my lycan form...