CIAN
I sat behind my desk and stared at the papers in front of me without really seeing them.
The words blurred together. Numbers became meaningless. My mind kept circling back to that room. That goddamned moldy room with the damp sheets and the rash crawling up her arms.
Why had I interfered?
The question sat in my chest like a stone. Heavy. Uncomfortable. I should have left it alone. Let the pack hierarchy sort itself out. Let the omegas handle their own petty jealousies and punishments. It wasn't my job to micromanage every slight between servants.
But I hadn't left it alone.
I'd walked into that room and felt something snap inside me. Seeing her there, covered in welts, standing in a space that was actively poisoning her. The rage had come so fast I barely had time to control it. And that rage wasn't logical. It wasn't calculated. It was pure instinct screaming at me that something was wrong. That my mate was being harmed.
My mate.
