Anabel.
My feet felt like lead as I backed away from Noah and Maria on the freezing gravel.
"Wait," Noah had said, his deep Alpha voice cutting through the cold night air like a heavy blade.
I stopped in my tracks, my shoulders tensing up to my ears. I didn't dare look him in the eye again. I couldn't bear to see the remnant of disappointment in his face, or the quiet pity in Maria's exhausted eyes. Every second I stood there under the moonlight felt like a hot iron pressing against my chest.
"Noah... please," I choked out, my voice barely a raspy whisper as I kept my gaze fixed on my muddy boots. "I... I just need a moment. Please."
Before he could use his Alpha voice to command me again, I turned on my heel and moved away from them, my cloak billowing in the freezing wind as I rushed down the garden path.
