Tobi’s POV
The palace courtyard echoed with the crunch of gravel as a black sedan roared down the drive, tires shrieking in protest before it jerked to a halt in a cloud of dust. Mother waved her hand, coughing delicately as the dirt swirled around her silk dress. I had a feeling she was already regretting her insistence on greeting each arriving party in person.
The driver’s door opened, and out stepped Benjamin—Alpha Victor’s eldest son, and someone I had once considered a close friend. He looked the same, yet different. The easy confidence he once carried was gone, replaced with something sharper… more guarded. His blazer was creased, the collar of his shirt wilted like he’d slept in it, and even from a distance I could smell stale alcohol clinging to him like smoke.
“Benjamin,” I sa
