"The war we prepared for is over. The enemy we feared is gone. What remains is something far worse, an idea with teeth, loose in the fabric of reality."
We returned from the edge of the Silverback Forest with the silent, and I was now ready to absorb the inevitable shock of the King's mission. We entered the villa through the reinforced back door. The atmosphere inside was thick with tension, far exceeding the normal stress of a hidden command hub. The central room, hastily cleared for tactical planning, was strangely still.
And then I saw Alaric Vayne stand near the central table, stripped of his heavy traveling gear, his frame radiating immense, clean Alpha power. He was exhausted, pale beneath the lingering golden residue of extreme effort, but whole. Elias stood beside him, equally drained but completely anchored, his hand resting on the back of his Mate's neck, a quiet, proprietary gesture.
