ALARIC POV
The entire drive back to Greenwood had been torture.
Pure f*****g torture.
And in the quiet surrounding me, my mind wouldn’t stop spinning.
Deadly scenario after deadly scenario.
Aria bleeding.
The kids screaming.
Noah smiling.
Me arriving too late.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel until the leather creaked beneath my grip.
Because that was the part killing me.
I wasn’t there.
Elias sat beside me in complete silence, half naked and covered in mud, blood and rainwater while dawn slowly bled across the horizon outside the truck windows.
He hadn’t said a single f*****g word since we left Crescent Moon.
Not one.
Good.
Because honestly?
If he opened his mouth right now, I was probably going to punch him.
Not because he almost killed Graham.
Not only bec
