“This isn’t about strategy,” I said instead.
“It is exactly about strategy,” Caius countered. “You are Alpha. Your decisions affect the stability of this entire pack.”
My gaze sharpened. “You’re correct about one thing. I am Alpha. And I’m already handling the threat.”
“With incomplete alliances,” Sable pressed.
The silence built under the weight of their gazes. They expected their pressure to move me. That I’d cave to their advice simply because I was younger than most alphas.
They were wrong.
Onyx shifted, his agitation growing until the bond pulsed faintly. The awareness of it flowed through us both, and he settled again.
Even though she wasn’t here with me, she was still there. Steady. Mine.
The thought came uninvited, and I shut it down. I couldn’t afford to be focused on th
