ALCYDE
The old hall empties with reluctant slowness, pack members stealing glances at drama they sense but can't define. I lean against a scarred oak pillar, tracking Sophia through the thinning crowd. She collects abandoned glasses with mechanical precision, but her fingers betray slight tremors that match the pulse jumping at her throat. That green dress clings to muscles she's carved from soft omega flesh over eight weeks of brutal training.
"Stop watching her like you're memorizing her for later." Billy Joe drops onto the bench beside me, flask already extended. The bourbon burns smooth but can't touch the ice crystallizing in my gut.
"Midnight," I say quietly. "He wants her alone at midnight."
"Could be nothing. Could be everything." Billy Joe takes a long pull. "The way he touche
