Emma
The alarms didn’t stop—sharp blares shifting into a lower, pulsing tone that seemed to vibrate in my bones. Somewhere deeper in the palace, something heavy boomed. Once. Twice. The walls swallowed most of the sound, but not enough.
I paced.
From window to door and back again, bare feet whispering over the rug, heart beating so hard it drowned out half the noise. My wolf paced within me, restless and anxious, pressing at my skin as if she wanted out.
Lucian hadn’t taken long to move.
One minute we’d been wrapped around each other, the world narrowed to warmth and sleep and the quiet after everything. The next, alarms were screaming, and he was on his feet—grabbing for clothes, firing orders, every line of his body snapping back into Alpha King.
He’d come to me last.
“Stay in thi
