Alpha Zedd’s POV
I had been watching Karyk Moonbane for years.
Long before Delilah ever became mine, I had one of my most trusted men embedded deep in his circle. It had nothing to do with the fool, he did not interest me. I simply had to do it because of the woman he married. I knew his routines. His weaknesses. His pathetic coping mechanisms. So when his empire began collapsing under the weight of the data leak and the compounding losses, I knew exactly where he would crawl to drown his failures — that dimly lit bar downtown where weak men go to pretend they’re still strong.
I had planted the idea myself through my associate. A few carefully placed words over whiskey: “If a woman ruins your life, you go remind her who’s really in charge. That’s what a real man does.” Karyk, drunk and
