Chapter One Hundred and Six: Matthias Crowe

The rest of my day passed in a haze, as if the world had decided to move without me. Nothing significant happened—no sudden clarity, no breakthroughs. Just an overwhelming quiet that left me with nothing but my own thoughts.

Nerissa had asked for space after she left the pack, told me she needed time to ‘process her humiliation.’ I gave it to her. Not because I wanted to, but because I didn’t have the mental strength to argue. I sat there questioning everything once again—who I was, who I used to be, who I thought I loved- it had become my favorite thing to do.

I’m not in love with Nerissa anymore. That much I know. But knowing doesn’t always make things easier. What makes it worse is realizing just how many people around me had seen things I was too blind to notice. My parents, for one. The looks they gave her—icy, disappointed, wary. They saw something in her I didn’t. A version of Nerissa I had refused to believe existed.

But my grandmother… she always liked Nerissa. Always. She sa