VLADIMIR
The desk was cluttered with land and resource allocation papers from the Risemoon pack, all stamped with seals of ownership that were now mine to control. The ink still smelled faintly metallic, as if the pages themselves despised my touch.
A sharp knock rattled through the heavy oak door.
"Come in," I said, not looking up.
I already knew who it was. Tom. My Beta. I had summoned him, after all.
The door opened, hinges groaning, and his presence filled the room with the scent of pine and iron. His eyes swept over the shelves and the maps pinned to the wall, but when his gaze snagged on the black tuxedo draped neatly across a chair, his expression shifted. His jaw tightened, his shoulders stiffened; a silent tension radiating through the air.
"I assumed the rumors weren’t true
