The safe house buzzed with barely contained tension the next morning. Sofia could feel it in the air — the way the wolves moved with extra alertness, the hushed conversations that stopped whenever she entered a room. News of the scout attack had spread. Everyone knew the stakes were rising.
She stood in the kitchen, nursing a cup of ginger tea Lila had forced on her, staring out at the rain-soaked garden. Her hand rested protectively on her belly. The baby had been active all night, almost as if he could sense the storm brewing around them.
“You should sit down,” Julian’s deep voice came from behind her.
She didn’t turn around. “I’ve been sitting for hours. I need to move.”
He came closer anyway, stopping just behind her. His warmth radiated against her back, and the mate bond tugged i
