The heavy oak doors of the royal bedchamber clicked shut, isolating King Kaelen once more within the dim, fire-lit sanctuary of his private quarters. He stood by the threshold for a long, ragged moment, his broad chest heaving under his dark silk tunic.
Inside his head, his inner Lycan wolf was going absolutely crazy.
The intense briefing with Commander Jax had shattered the beast's fragile composure. The revelation that Valeria’s younger sister was alive in the barracks had sent the primal spirit within him into a state of feral, possessive chaos. The wolf was clawing violently at the walls of his consciousness, its wild, ancient instincts thrashed by the overwhelming desire to protect what belonged to him. The beast kept roaring a single, deafening command into his skull over and over
