Scarlett's POV
I swallowed hard, waiting for him to explode. I braced myself for shattered glass, roared threats, or the violent flare of his Alpha aura that would bring the rest of the pack running to my door.
But the explosion never came. Instead, the silence grew heavier, thicker, stretching out until it felt like a physical weight crushing the air right out of my lungs.
Liam didn't move. He stood perfectly still in the center of my dimly lit room. His chest was heaving, his breath hitching painfully as he stared at me. The golden glow of his inner wolf flared behind his dark eyes—not in fury, but in deep, agonizing sorrow. The beast inside him was mourning.
"A one-night thing," Liam repeated. His voice didn't shake, but it was hollow, completely stripped of the warmth and affection he had showered me with all evening. "While you were on the run... with a stranger."
