Aaron’s POV

The whiskey’s bitterness spread across my tongue, burning and numbing, just like my heart. The study’s candlelight flickered, casting shadows on the portraits of Scott ancestors lining the walls—stern faces that seemed to mock me, generations of Alpha kings undone by their own hearts.

After Elin shut her door, my world went dark. Arthur howled inside me, his calls to Istha met with hollow echoes. The mate bond, meant to be a warm tether, now twisted like tormenting ...