ALEX POV:
By the time I reached our room, I was vibrating with a very specific kind of rage.
The kind that starts cold, sharp, and controlled, then sinks its claws into your ribs and refuses to let go. The kind that makes your wolf pace inside you, teeth bared, hackles raised, just waiting for permission to rip something apart.
The shame I was feeling wasn't just from the way I had rushed out of the bathroom earlier—it was the guilt that I hadn't been able to do more for Raven, hadn't protected her when I should've. And now, I couldn't ignore the heavy knot in my chest, the suffocating weight of knowing something had gone way too far this time.
I could hear her heartbeat from the hallway, faint but fast. Something was off. She was upset—really upset. I knocked lightly on the door, the hope that she'd open it and talk to me flickering, but when she didn't, I knocked again. A little louder this time, my patience beginning to thin.
Nothing.
