STEPHEN
I sat alone in my office long after she left.
The room was quiet, but my head wasn’t. I kept replaying her face when I scolded her, the way her jaw tightened, the way she tried not to react, and it had affected my wolf more than I wanted to admit. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like the distance, didn’t like the disappointment, didn’t like that I had pushed her away when she was standing right in front of me.
But it had to be done.
She crossed a line. She ignored orders, exposed herself, exposed the throne, and I couldn’t forgive that easily, not when the kingdom was watching, not when weakness invited chaos.
I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my face, my jaw tight.
A knock came, firm and familiar.
“Come in,” I said.
Alaric entered with a tablet in his hand, his expression
