With that, Aliona left the café, her steps steady but her instincts already racing ahead of her. The night air outside carried shifting pack currents—alliances forming and breaking in silence. All she could do now was wait for Lucas to secure the opening she needed. Every delay felt like pressure on her timeline. She needed Elliot Presgrave's heir soon, a living bond that would lock her into power, because Riley's detention still echoed through her obligations like a broken Alpha command still half-obeyed.
She didn't allow doubt to surface. In her world, hesitation was the first sign of being replaced.
Meanwhile, in Hogland, Hayley sat before the mirror in a sterile room scented with antiseptic and healing herbs used for accelerated recovery. For the first time since her surgery a week ago, she removed the bandages from her face with careful hands, her pulse rising like a young wolf approaching its first transformation.
