"I don't think we had anything important between us for me to inform you."
Jake blinked, the words striking him with the force of a physical slap. He stepped back, visibly taken aback. "Natalia? Why on earth are you speaking to me like that? We're friends. We've been friends for years."
"Friends?" she echoed, a dry, humorless laugh slipping past her lips. "Look, Jake. I told you clearly the day I left: there was nothing between us worth saving. You ruined that so-called friendship yourself. Did you honestly think I was bluffing?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but the underlying sarcasm was sharp enough to cut. A few weekend shoppers passing by slowed their pace, their eyes darting over as they sensed the heavy, suffocating aura of Alpha tension thickening the air. The wide mall corridor suddenly felt smaller, restricted, weighed down by the friction of an old conflict.
Jake's face darkened, a toxic mixture of bruised pride and humiliation twisting his features.
