The door barely clicks shut behind Alpha David before Axel turns on his heel, his control snapping hard enough that I feel it like a physical shift in the room, and Atticus is right there with him, both of them pacing the length of the cabin like caged animals who have just been shown the bars. The quiet that follows is sharp and brittle, the kind that hums with everything left unsaid, and my chest tightens as I watch them spiral straight toward the same conclusion.
“This is Daniel,” Axel says flatly, his hands curling into fists at his sides as he stops short of the fireplace and drags a hand through his hair, “this is exactly what he wanted, and now he’s got the pack convinced they’re protecting themselves.”
Atticus nods, jaw tight, eyes dark with calculation. “He didn’t push too hard,
