The engine purred softly as the Moon’s Claw pack house faded behind them, growing more distant with every mile. Helena stared out the window without truly seeing the landscape. The silence inside the vehicle was thick, heavy with all the words left unspoken after crossing the threshold of that house—where she had left more than just bricks and shadows. She had left behind the last remnants of submission.
Leofrik, at the wheel, kept his eyes on the road, but his energy was palpable: tense, protective, restless.
At last, he spoke in his usual tone of calm inquiry, without taking his eyes off the road.
“What did Mason mean… about the Beta?” he asked with apparent neutrality. “He saw you leaving the room with him. He used it as an accusation.”
Helena sighed, turning slowly toward him. She
