Third person POV
Rae tried to tell herself she was overreacting.
She’d done that for days now—forced herself to breathe through the unease, to catalog Claire’s behavior as stress or jealousy or misplaced loyalty. It would have been easy to dismiss the feeling entirely if it hadn’t been so persistent.
Her wolf wouldn’t let it go.
The pressure sat behind her ribs, tight and insistent, the same instinct that had driven her to protect Ellie all those years ago. The same instinct that had told her to leave Silver Fang when watching Ellie suffer had become unbearable.
That instinct was screaming now.
Claire had canceled their plans twice this week. The excuses were vague—headaches, errands, things she “forgot” she needed to do. When Rae suggested rescheduling, Claire had smiled too quickly
