Silence ate up the room, thick and unrelenting. The question lingered, turning in the air between them like a living thing:
What will you choose?
Liana didn’t move. She stayed right where she was, arms wrapped tight around herself near the strategy table. Behind Kael, the stormlight shivered against the tall windows. Outside, dawn tried to break through, but heavy clouds and steady rain kept most of Silver Crest shrouded in darkness.
Kael didn’t answer her. Not right away.
Honestly, that scared her more than any threat in the wild, because Alpha Kael always had an answer. Always sure. Always in control. But tonight, he looked cornered. That was new.
The mate bond throbbed, raw and painful between them—fear, need, conflict, all jumbling together until it got hard to breathe.
Liana wat
