THIRD POV
The night was fading, but dawn had not yet broken. Alpha Alec sat behind his desk, elbows braced on the dark wood, fingers steepled against his forehead. The faint tick of the wall clock marked each uneasy second.
Talyra lingered by the window, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Outside, the compound lay in silence, the forest beyond wrapped in mist. Normally she liked these hours—the hush before the pack woke—but this time the quiet felt heavy, like a warning. The cold glass beneath her fingertips offered no comfort.
“She was glowing, Alec,” Talyra said at last. Her voice broke the stillness like a stone on water. “I saw it with my own eyes—you saw it too. Wren wasn’t weaving tales this time.”
Alec exhaled through his nose, trying to maintain control, though the sound bet
