LIAM
I watched her from across the courtroom, this woman who had managed to silence an entire panel of Alpha judges. Vanessa West—the lost princess, the rogue savior, mate to my oldest rival.
She was magnificent.
Not just in her beauty, though she possessed plenty of that with her thick auburn hair and those sharp gray-blue eyes. No, what captivated me was her fierce, unwavering conviction as she defended Bianca Hayes, a woman who'd once kidnapped her.
"She deserves rehabilitation, not execution," Vanessa had argued, her voice carrying through the chamber without a hint of hesitation. "And she's not the only one. The entire system needs reform."
Bold words in a room full of tradition-bound Alphas. The kind of boldness that could get a lesser wolf ostracized—or worse.
But Vanessa West wasn't a lesser wolf, was she? Even without knowing her royal bloodline, you could sense it—power wrapped in compassion, strength tempered by mercy. A rare combination.
