Chapter 53

Riley's POV

The silence in the mansion was heavy, a suffocating blanket woven from Norman’s icy anger and my own gnawing guilt. Days had passed since his eruption, since the confession of my confusing attraction to Kirk. I had tried, repeatedly, to seek his forgiveness, to explain the turmoil within me, the involuntary nature of my wolf’s response to Kirk’s presence. But he refused to listen, refused to acknowledge me, refused to see anything beyond his own wounded pride and sense of betrayal. He shut me out completely, his cold silence a more potent punishment than any physical one.

His anger, I realized, wasn't just about the wolf. It was about Kirk. About the fact that my wolf, against my will, had responded so strongly to another man, a man he considered to be lesser than him. The very idea seemed to enrage him more than the fact that I'd hidden the existence of my wolf. It was an assault on his ego, a disregard of his authority and control.

The thought stung. It was true that I