Tanaia arrived without announcement.
That alone told me this was not politics.
If she had come as a rival Alpha or a territorial leader, there would have been banners, escorts, formal greetings. Instead, she came with only one guard and left him at the gates.
She asked to see me alone.
Derek looked at me carefully when the message reached us. Jax’s jaw tightened out of instinct, not suspicion, just protection.
“I will be close,” Jax said quietly.
“I know,” I answered.
But this was not a confrontation.
I felt that before she stepped into the private garden behind the pack house.
The sky was pale, early afternoon light soft over the mountains. The air smelled of pine and cold stone. I stood near the fountain when she approached.
Tanaia moved with quiet strength. She was not tall, b
