Aaron's POV.
Being Alpha meant people thought they could read me.
They watched my face when I entered a room. Measured my silence. Counted how long I paused before answering. They thought leadership lived in posture and tone, in how calm a man looked while everyone else waited.
They were wrong.
Leadership lived in how much you carried without letting it show.
That morning, I signed off on patrol rotations without really seeing the names. Rowan stood across from my desk, straight-backed, alert, waiting for approval like he always did. I nodded, signed, slid the tablet back to him.
“Double the western perimeter,” I said. “And pull two warriors from internal watch. Quiet ones.”
Rowan’s brow creased. “Internal?”
“Do it.”
He didn’t argue. He never did. Just inclined his head and left.
