That’s when I feel it.
The shift in the air is subtle but sharp, like someone has stepped into my personal space without touching me, and my shoulders tense before I even know why. I turn slowly, already bracing myself, and that’s when I see him. Daniel. Alpha David’s brother.
He’s tall and polished in the way men with long-held authority tend to be, everything about him controlled and deliberate, and he’s smiling, but it’s the kind that never quite reaches his eyes, the kind that feels practiced rather than welcoming. When his gaze lands on me it doesn’t soften the way the others have, it sharpens instead, like he’s assessing a threat or a complication rather than meeting a person.
“So you’re the girl.” He says, extending a hand, and I take it out of obligation rather than instinct, hi
