My hair fell across one shoulder as I lifted my gaze toward Elliot, locking onto his ocean-dark eyes. The moment our eyes met, something inside the room shifted—subtle, electric, like the air before a storm breaks over pack territory.
His presence always did that.
My instincts reacted before I could stop them, tightening in my chest, sharpening every sense. I hated it. Hated how easily he unsettled me, how even silence from him felt like a hand around my throat.
I must have looked ridiculous—like a thorned rose standing alone in fresh snow. Beautiful, yes, but dangerous enough that anyone who reached for me might bleed. That was always how others saw me in the pack: something untouchable, something they weren't sure they deserved to approach.
Elliot's mood shifted the moment he looked at me.
