Lorien POV
“Whatever is going on between you two, you need to fix it,” Olyssia said, her tone clipped and serious. “There’s already going to be enough tension in that room with all the Alphas gathered together. We don’t need to add more drama on top of it.”
I turned my head at the same time Auren glanced over at me. For a second, our eyes locked. I gave him a small smile, tentative but real, and his hand tightened on my thigh. Something in that brief moment just the faint curve of his lips, the subtle softening of his shoulders was enough to melt away the stiffness between us. A strange calm washed through me, something that felt dangerously close to peace.
Then he faced the road again, his jaw setting as though that fleeting connection had never happened. I hesitated before reaching d
