The Compound felt different after the sparring match.
Not tense.
Not hostile.
Just… aware.
Lucien had pinned Kade to the mat with a level of force that wasn’t about training. It wasn’t about dominance. It wasn’t even about leadership.
It was about me.
And everyone in the room knew it.
Rhett watched Lucien with a new kind of caution.
Cole studied him like a puzzle he needed to solve.
Jax grinned like he’d been waiting for this moment.
But Lucien didn’t look at any of them.
He looked at me.
Only me.
His hand stayed on my waist as he guided me out of the training hall, his touch warm and steady. His jaw was tight, his breathing controlled, but his eyes… his eyes were burning.
Not with anger.
With something deeper.
Something dangerous.
Something fragile.
We reached a quiet co
