Chapter 20. Unplanned Vacation

Elena’s POV

For one breathless moment, I thought I’d reached him. I thought the man beneath the monster had heard me.

Then his hand tightened on my throat.

Not hard enough to choke—but hard enough to pin me in place. His eyes blazed with something primal, something I’d never seen directed at me before. Every muscle in his body radiated fury, power, absolute command.

“You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?” His voice was low, guttural—barely human.

My heart slammed against my ribs. “Eric—”

“You had no right.” Each word came separate, deliberate, brutal. “No right to interfere. No right to insert yourself into pack business. No right to defy me in front of my family, my Elders, my guards.”

“I was trying to help!” The words tore from me, desperate and shaking. “I didn’t want to see her hurt! That punishment—it was too much, Eric. Please. You don’t have to be that person.”

His laugh was cold, hollow. “You don’t know what person