Xander’s POV
The jet felt like a cage.
I paced the cabin the entire flight back from Harvard, my chest tight with panic and pain. The mate bond was screaming — a raw, jagged tear that radiated from Claire’s side of the connection. Every time I tried to reach out through it, I felt her heartbreak like a knife between my ribs. She had run from me. From us. And I couldn’t blame her.
The image of her face when she saw Victoria in my room haunted me. The shock. The devastation. The way her eyes had filled with tears before she turned and fled. I had pushed Victoria away the second she tried to touch me, but the damage was already done. Claire had seen enough to break her trust.
“I’m such an i***t,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. I should have told her Victoria was at Harvard. I
