ARIA POV
His body was cold.
Too f*****g cold.
‘He reeks of belladonna,’ Kara snarled in my mind, her voice sharp with fury—at whoever had done this, and at Pablo too. ‘He knew he didn’t have to let them touch him. And now… now he’s giving up.’
She was right.
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt.
“Fuck.”
Behind me, his mate was trembling like a leaf, her breath coming in short, broken bursts, and Drake’s low purr—meant to soothe—was doing nothing to calm her down. Maybe because he wasn’t her alpha, maybe because the bond wasn’t there yet, or maybe because there are some kinds of fear you don’t soothe out of someone.
She was already mourning.
And he—
He was already giving up.
“Stupid… stupid, stupid,” I muttered under my breath, anger rising fast and hot, sharp enough to cut through th
