I sat behind my desk, but my focus refused to stay on the reports in front of me. My thoughts kept circling back to Anastasia. Her scent from yesterday still lingered in my memory—faint, but unmistakably mixed with another male's. Alex. The image of her smiling at him pressed against my instincts like an unwanted claim.
I didn't explain anything about Aliona. I didn't mention the flowers I sent or the lunch I accepted. Anastasia hadn't questioned me, so I gave her the same silence in return. In an Alpha's world, silence was not absence—it was control. If she wanted distance, I would give her distance, but she would feel every step of it.
Because bonds don't fade quietly. They react. They pull. They ache.
