LUCIAN'S P.O.V.
It had been two long months since I'd told Teresa to leave my estate—and my life. I thought I'd feel...what? Relief, maybe? The kind of peace that comes from sticking to a tough choice. But peace was the last thing I found.
Ares was gone, at least his voice was. I felt his presence, but it was...distant. Just this faint, melancholic sensation that loomed at the edge of my mind. At first, I thought he was sulking, furious I'd pushed Teresa away but I didn't do anything to soothe him because I was very angry that he mated with her without my consent but now I was dying to hear his voice.
Ares had always been annoyingly vocal about her. But the silence lingered, turning into something that felt heavier, colder. He'd pulled away so far I couldn't reach him like he couldn't even hear me calling out to him anymore. And I had called. Desperately. He was punishing me and it was slowly eating away at my heart.
