Declan’s POV
I’ve learned the cost of restraint the hard way.
It isn’t the violence you don’t commit.
It’s the instincts you bury and live with afterward.
We wait.
That’s the hardest part.
The house is quiet in that tense, watchful way that never quite settles into peace. Mara is in the other room, on a secure call with Marcus, voice low and steady. I can hear enough to know she’s holding herself together with discipline and will alone.
Rowan hasn’t been returned yet.
The council said tonight.
They didn’t say when.
I stand by the window, arms crossed, watching the street below like I could drag answers out of concrete and asphalt if I stared hard enough. Every passing car registers. Every unfamiliar engine tightens something in my chest.
This is where Alphas lose control.
This
