Ravin's POV
The marking belonged to the Vespera pack.
Not just any rank within the Vespera pack either. Kol reserved that marking for his Betas and Gammas, the ones who sat closest to him, the ones who carried out the orders that never got spoken aloud in rooms with witnesses.
It wasn't a decoration. It wasn't something a student wore casually, every Alpha who knew Kol knew exactly what that marking meant the moment they saw it, and I was looking directly at it on the hand of a girl sitting at my dinner table.
Lyris was looking at me now, her eyes sharp and her posture pulled tight in the way people went when they felt cornered without wanting to show it. Her hand stayed in mine for exactly one more second before she drew it back, smooth and deliberate, tucking it against her side li
