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Did he really enjoy our food? Could he sleep peacefully in Blairville? How many times had he wanted to tear a Ruisangor apart?

“Don't forget that my virtues will soon be yours as well.”

I just nodded and finally looked out the window, my inner tension growing.

Well, that was a great start.

How would I ever be able to adapt to a new pack, let alone learn Russian? These tasks, everything I still had to prepare for... It seemed like a huge mountain to climb.

For the first time, I questioned whether I was mature enough for this marriage my father wanted to release me into. It was cold water, and he was pushing me in.

He had never trained me, and Alarik had never focused on patience, etiquette, or even rules of conduct with me. It had never been important. But now everything had changed.

Yes, Mica hadn't even won the games yet. But there was no question that anyone from the pack could beat him, except my brother, and logically, Nash wasn't allowed to compete for me.

Damn, that thought... That someone could compete for me. It hurt to know the meaning behind it.

But even if it seemed that way, we no longer lived in the Middle Ages. It was just a tradition that certainly couldn't change my value as a person.

For the first time, I was the center of attention, even if it was never the kind of attention I had sought.

I remained silent for the rest of the drive, and somehow my thoughts kept drifting back to this morning's law lecture and then... to him.

It felt so forbidden to sit next to Mica but having to think about Miles. Everything about it was fundamentally wrong.

Fortunately, after twenty minutes of driving through the forest, the car came to a stop, and I knew immediately where we were.

Euphoric, I threw open the car door, only to slam it shut again and run further up the cliff.

The dark sea, reflecting the evening sun, seemed so far away from up here, almost as if it could swallow me up if I took another step.

I turned to Mica with delight, grateful for his smile, which had returned.

He had seemed exhausted lately, but he didn't talk about what was bothering him. Whether it was business or something else. So, that smile felt all the more reassuring.

Whoever had told him that I liked this place had given him the right location.

When I went running, this was the place I often came to.

So many elements came together on that cliff, and Alarik had trained me here back then. The training had been merciless, and I had almost fallen down twice. But he had never allowed me to suffer a fatal injury.

Reminiscing, I looked down at the jagged rocks where the roaring waves crashed into each other. The foam sprayed meters high.

For the first time in years, fear shot through my knees for a split second. It felt as if this image reflected my life. One step in the wrong direction and I would fall. No one would be able to catch me. No one would be able to save me.

“Emely!”

I flinched and lost my balance. Mica grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the edge, his eyes full of concern.

“Be careful!” he exclaimed, his features contorted, his eyes wide. But there was something else. He furrowed his brow.

I hadn't just scared him. I had upset him.

“Damn it, what are you doing?!”

His angry undertone made me flinch again.

I couldn't help but stare at him. His wide-open, yellow-glowing eyes. That unfamiliar seriousness…