Ch. 18

Dane's POV

In just five minutes, the Sunfire Pack would arrive, carrying our last glimmer of hope for my best friend's search for his true mate. Throughout the entire month, I've been grappling with anger, irritation, depression, and fear ever since Cruz announced his choice of Raya as his mate.

Under no circumstances would I allow him to mark Raya. Lucian and I made a pact that if we couldn't rescue her in time, we would do the one thing we swore we wouldn't do: challenge Cruz for the position of Alpha. I couldn't bear the thought of Raya being marked by him. The mere image of them together, in his room, on his bed, overwhelmed me. Every time I imagined it, I had to go for a run to prevent myself from attacking anyone and everyone.

To make matters worse, Cruz had forbidden anyone from touching her. This made it even more difficult for me to control my anger, so I started avoiding her to avoid losing control. However, I would always end my day with her by the river. That moment was th