Dalton's POV
The air around me felt heavier than usual, thick with tension and the metallic scent of fear I could almost taste. My chest burned, not from exertion but from a cold, gnawing dread that refused to leave my bones. Emily. My Emily. My mate. My… child’s mother. The thought alone made my hands clench into fists so tight the chains cut into my skin.
I could hear the crunch of boots on the dirt before I saw them. The Alpha, his presence commanding and terrifying, flanked by Zariah, her expression grim yet controlled. My wolf growled deep in my throat, low and warning. Something was wrong. I could feel it in every fiber of my being.
“Dalton,” the Alpha’s voice rumbled like distant thunder, calm but heavy with authority, “we need to speak.”
I glared, straining against the chains,
