Adrian's POV
Pain tore through my chest like claws raking my insides. I curled in on myself, hiding in the shadows where she couldn't see me.
I was dying. And when I went, Raze would go with me.
Six months. Maybe less if the deterioration accelerated.
That's why I'd pushed Lina away. Why I'd manufactured that divorce.
Because I couldn't—*wouldn't*—let her watch me waste away.
Couldn't let her sacrifice her future to play nursemaid to a dying Alpha.
Better she hate me. Better she move on.
And I'd spend the rest of my life—however short that might be—paving the way for her happiness.
I thought she'd be strong. She had been strong, hadn't she? She'd smiled when we said goodbye. Told me we were strangers now.
She'd done so well.
She was living her life. Movin
