Chapter 5

Arya’s POV

James didn’t come back to the room after the argument.

Not that night.

Not the next.

Not the one after that.

I slept alone for two days, staring at the other side of the bed like it was a wound that refused to close. The bond still existed, tight, alive, but it felt like a rope pulled through my ribs, not comfort. Every time I felt him somewhere in the packhouse, it was distant. Controlled. Like he was keeping space on purpose.