Chapter 26

The tension between Kaden and Althea had been building for days, an invisible storm cloud that followed them everywhere. They spoke only when necessary, their conversations clipped and shallow, and when they weren’t forced to share the same space, they avoided each other entirely. For Althea, the distance was unbearable. She hated how much she missed him, how the sound of his voice, the feel of his presence, had become something she craved more than air. But at the same time, the ache in her chest reminded her of why she was pulling away. He wasn’t being honest with her. She couldn’t ignore the feeling that he was hiding something, and every time she thought about the way he’d shut her down, it stung like an open wound. For Kaden, it was maddening. He watched her slip further and further away from him, her presence a fleeting shadow in the estate. He hated how her absence left an ache in his chest, how every moment without her made him restless, his wolf pacing within him like a caged