The silence in the lobby was intense, a vacuum created by the sheer audacity of the woman standing next to me. I felt a low, rumbling vibration in my chest. My wolf was no longer snarling at the insult. He was sitting up, his ears pinned forward, mesmerized by the sharp, cold authority of the woman who had just silenced a room full of predators and paparazzi.
“Next question,” Tess said, her voice cutting through the quiet like a blade.
The room erupted. My wolf instinctively scanned the crowd, categorizing the vultures into categories of ‘actually dangerous’ and ‘human.’
“Ms. Beaumont, how do you respond to the allegations of market manipulation against Apex Land Ventures?” a woman from CNBC shouted, thrusting a recorder forward.
I stepped up, my hand returning to the small of Tess’
