The doors to Ashborne's east administrative block didn't open fast enough, so Caius didn't wait for them.
He hit the security checkpoint at a dead run. The two Beta guards stationed there had exactly enough time to reach for their radios before the air pressure in the corridor shattered. Caius dredged up the raw, heavy dominance from the bottom of his chest, unleashing it in a wave of crushing pack weight. His voice dropped into the ancient register that wasn't asking.
"Stand down."
It wasn't a suggestion. It was Alpha command, full weight, delivered close enough that both men felt the sonic vibration in their teeth. One of them actually staggered backward against the wall, his knees buckling under the sheer, biological pressure of a dominant apex predator.
“Sir, Luna Isadora's private
