SELENE’S POV
The ride back felt like the longest journey of my life. Rex drove in tense silence, his eyes fixed on the road. Dante sat beside me in the backseat, shoulders rigid, gaze locked on the dark stretch of forest passing outside the window. His silence was not just an absence of speech it was punishment. It was withdrawal. It was a wall. I could practically feel his fury rolling off him in waves. Not just anger betrayal.
I opened my mouth twice to speak, but something about his expression stopped me each time. His jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscle jumped beneath his skin. His hands were folded in his lap, but I could see the faint tremor of restrained violence in them. Even now… even after he found me.
Finally, unable to bear it anymore, I whispered, “Dante…”
“I alre
