ALARIC POV
I'd tried music.
Didn't work.
I'd tried talking too.
That somehow worked even less.
At one point I'd actually considered putting on one of Owen's playlists, which should tell you exactly how desperate I was getting. Then I remembered the last time he'd hijacked my truck speakers and subjected an entire patrol to six consecutive versions of Baby Shark.
I'd rather drive into a tree.
Nothing touched the mood hanging inside the SUV.
Three hours.
Three f*****g hours in a car with my mate and the silence kept growing heavier instead of lighter.
Growing larger every mile we put between Greenwood and ourselves.
Three hours on the road and I was running out of ways to pretend I wasn't losing my goddamn mind.
Not because Aria wasn't talking.
Because she was hurting.
And I co
