Meadow’s POV:

I nursed my cup of coffee, my mind spinning, thoughts unraveling faster than I could piece them back together.

Alaric hadn’t come back downstairs since he’d so sternly shut down my request to release Juniper. Like I was a child asking for candy during bedtime.

I scoffed.

I couldn’t stop replaying it—the way he’d said no without any hesitation. As if it was final. As if my opinion didn’t matter. Juniper had made me feel that exact same way more times than I could ...