Priyank’s eyes filled with tears as the pain he had buried for years tore through his heart. The weight of everything he had hidden threatened to consume him, and before he could stop them, the tears began to fall.

His whole life, he had fought, using pain as his motivation.

He hated how much his mother had lost in raising him.

The man who should have stood by her had left—for another woman.

But now, he understood. After everything he had learned about mate bonds, about the way the world worked… he could see it clearly. His father had left for his mate.

The hatred he had buried for so...