For a moment, time itself seemed to stop.
The daughter he’d thrown away, the daughter not worth remembering, now sitting in the lap of the most feared king alive.
I met my father’s stare. This time, I didn’t just smirk—I bared my teeth in a smile sharp enough to cut. For a moment I almost forgot about escape plans or fear or shame. For once, I enjoyed watching his composure crack.
The King’s voice shattered the silence.
“You were saying, Jack?”
The words were silk over steel, low and deliberate, yet the force behind them was enough to make the walls tremble.
Every eye swung toward the Alpha at the far side of the table—Alpha Jack, who sat rigid.
The tension in the room coiled tighter, every second stretching into a blade’s edge.
Slowly, the King shifted me off his lap, setting me
