Lulu Dinner with Alpha Caspian was never supposed to feel like sitting in a trial—yet that was exactly how it felt tonight. The dining hall of Sapphire Water Pack glowed with pale blue lanterns hanging from beams carved with ancient runes. The long table was filled with high-rank wolves—Beta, Gammas, Elders,—werewolves who had lived their whole lives with formality etched into their bones. Metal cutlery gleamed. The dishes smelled warm and spiced. But all of it felt like background noise to the tension that rested quietly on my shoulders. I sat on Alpha Caspian’s right, the seat he personally pulled out for me. That alone already made the room fall into a silence two seconds too long. “Let the feast’s begin,” Alpha Caspian said, voice firm yet calm. He didn’t look at me, but the closen

