The Council would not attack openly every time.
Roman understood that better than anyone.
Not every threat arrived with claws, weapons, or hired mercenaries. Sometimes an enemy needed only the right words, the right pressure, or a carefully timed provocation to trigger a reaction. If Leo was going to survive in a world where powerful people already knew he existed, he needed to learn how to remain calm when his instincts demanded violence.
That lesson frightened Tessa almost as much as the attack at the harbor.
She sat rigidly against the concrete wall, watching every movement with growing anxiety.
Roman released the smallest fraction of his Alpha aura.
The sensation was nearly imperceptible.
A faint pressure settled across the room.
A trace of pine and steel drifted through the ai
