Novah's POV
The car wasn’t moving. Or maybe it was, and the world outside was just a smear of grey and green, rushing past the rain-streaked window in a meaningless blur. Like my thoughts. Like my life. Just… smeared. The hum of the engine vibrated through the seat, a low, constant thrum that matched the dull ache behind my temples. Ashton hadn’t spoken since his brutal dissection of my humiliation. *‘Brought it on yourself.’* The words echoed in the suffocating silence, bouncing off the leather and glass, finding no purchase except in the raw, shallow pit of my understanding.
He was right, wasn’t he? My shallow mind kept circling back to it, like a clumsy moth battering itself against a cold, hard truth. I’d followed him home? No. But I’d existed near him. I’d felt things. I’d… kissed him. That was the unforgivable act, the spark that lit Loveth’s gasoline smile. My weakness, my pathetic omega yearning, had painted a target. Ashton saw it. The pack saw it. Everyone saw the flaw in th
