For once, Alpha Ryker Blackthorne didn’t look invincible. The uncertainty showed clear as day, sweeping through the courtyard like a chill no one expected. Every warrior noticed. Every noble caught it. Even the servants tucked behind windows felt it.
Ryker’s certainty was his sword and shield, always—he never flinched, never second-guessed, stood tall while everyone else wavered. His confidence had held their world together in disasters before, but now, standing in the rain while Kael Draven watched with that smug, mocking look…something cracked.
It was small, but it was there. Real. And everyone knows what happens once cracks appear.
Kael’s laughter died out. The smile vanished. That easy, careless amusement got swallowed up by something harder. Now he was just the Lycan King again, im
