Eyes.
Judgmental ones.
Luke’s parents approach from across the hall, stiff and severe, dressed in fine suits that make them look like they stepped out of an old council painting. Their faces are blank, cold. But their emotions? Yeah, they’re radiating displeasure like a dying star.
They don’t look at Max with joy.
They don’t look at Luke with pride.
They don’t look at me, their equal, with respect.
I feel Caden stiffen beneath me. His energy shifts in a breath. That barely restrained possessiveness turns sharp, territorial. Cade, his hellhound, stirs just beneath the surface.
Cade: They don’t belong near ours.
Caden doesn’t say a word, but he pulls me tighter against him, chin settling on my shoulder like a silent threat. His hand rests low on my stomach, possessive, grounding, and
