Chapter 35

It wasn’t until half an hour later that something inside him snapped. He tore through traffic, rushed home, and went straight to the bedroom. Nothing had changed since she moved out. Every surface neat, untouched. But when he yanked open her drawer, the sight hollowed him out. The mating ring sat there, cold and abandoned. Back then, when he was blind, they never held a ceremony. The certificate and that ring were the only proof they had ever belonged to each other. And Sloane, who always kept it with her, tucked in a pocket or strung on a chain. had left it behind. Only then did the truth land like a hammer. She wasn’t bluffing. She wasn’t angling for attention. When Sloane said she was done… she meant it. At that moment, Damon felt as though his ribcage had been stuffed with lead, each breath a painful drag. His wolf paced restlessly inside him, claws scratching at the edges of his control. The sight of the ring lying abandoned in the drawer hit harder than any blow. For wolves, a ma