I stayed standing. I looked Malikai right in his golden eyes, my breath coming in short gasps.
The room went dead silent. The triplets looked at me in shock. Malikai’s eyes widened, the gold in them flickering.
"You stayed standing," Malikai whispered. The anger in his voice was replaced by a strange, dark curiosity.
"I'm not bowing to you," I said.
Malikai turned his gaze back to his sons. "She has a spark. But a spark isn't a fire. And a human heart is still made of glass."
"We don't care what you think, Father," Alaric said. He stepped in front of me, his back to me, shielding me completely from Malikai’s view. "We are the Alphas of this pack now. You gave us the crown when you retired to the northern territories. This is our house. This is our territory."
"And she is our mate," S
