Kaelen's POV
I am alone in my room when the quiet finally settles enough to hear my own thoughts again, though they are a chorus of dissonant voices I’d rather silence.
The fire has burned low, the embers glowing like the dying eyes of a predator. The bottle on the side table is already half-empty—the kind of indulgence I allow myself only when the weight of the Dravenhart crown feels like it might crack my skull open from the inside. The estate has gone still, a heavy, artificial peace. No more raised voices. No more footsteps of Alphas lingering in the halls to measure the depth of my frustration. No more Serenity standing at the center of a storm I still cannot name, looking at me with those eyes that seem to see right through the facade of my power.
Just me. And the echo of everythi
