Brielle’s POV
The hall was still humming with the echoes of my speech.
Even after the last Alpha left, after the doors closed, and the guards fell back into formation,there was something electric lingering in the air.
I should’ve felt triumphant.
But all I felt was... hollow.
Not empty. Just stretched thin. Like I’d handed every last part of myself to that moment, to that crowd,to them. And now all that was left was the ache.
I made it to the western corridor before my legs started to shake. I didn’t stop walking. I didn’t want anyone to see it.
I needed a wall. A quiet room. A breath.
Instead, I found Jake.
He was waiting for me just beyond the corridor arch. Jacket half-unbuttoned, jaw tense, eyes locked on mine like he’d been holding himself there on purpose. Like if he moved,
