Ashton:
The weight of the night pressed down on me like a storm cloud, suffocating and heavy. The Alpha’s office, usually a place of strategy and strength, felt different tonight. The walls seemed closer, the shadows deeper. I sat across from Zane, his elbows resting on his desk, hands clasped tightly together—knuckles pale with pressure. His eyes were fixed on nothing and everything all at once.
The silence between us was thick, stretching out like an ominous fog.
I broke it first, my voice low, uncertain. “Forest is gone after Brooks… He’ll find him. You know that, right?”
Zane’s jaw twitched. He gave a slow nod, but the conviction I hoped to see in his eyes wasn’t there. “Yeah… He knows those woods better than anyone. But Callen’s men—” He cut himself off, taking a deep breath throu
