opposite sides of the table, exhausted, their faces marked by the anxious night they had just spent. Since the announcement

to the table as if searching for answers in the veins of the

inside her, a dull, burning anger that she struggled to contain. His father seemed broken, almost resigned to their fa

ood up abruptly, her hands clenched into fists. "This is not our

"Sometimes it's better to accept and learn to live with it. To resist a man lik

him silently, and she had gained nothing except a bitter burning deep in her heart. Bu

heads down, let him trample us like insects? We were his warriors, Dad! We risked our li

upport. With tears in her eyes, she whispered, "You don't know what thi

ow that hung over them. She thought of Jaxon's arrogance, the way he seemed to dominate every room he entered, the confident look in his eyes that loo

et his guard down? To be seduced? She knew her beauty, knew that other men had let themselves b

toward her mother, whispering as if the simple act made

ry. "Don't talk about that, you don't know what game you're playing." Th

rtainty that pushed her to move forward. She wouldn't let him crush their family without taking action. If seducing Jaxo

arian tone. She slipped among the other members of the pack, keeping a neutral face but scrutinizing every detail, every movement of the Alpha. Hi

traight, refusing to look away as he passed her

wouldn't back down. This was his first step. The first contact, the first sign that she was not like the others. She

s gaze, feeling an electric tension building between them. Finally, he raised an eyeb

ely detached. "Perhaps not everyone here

her in shock, unable to believe that she dared to respond in this way. But she

he said as he approached slowly, closing the distance betwe

ng threat. She swallowed, but didn't look away. "I think you are

inting with a dangerous spark. "Fear is respect,

oking him, that she was playing with fire, but she also felt that she was

he said in a voice that admitted no doubt. Then, without another word, he tur

ange had left an imprint on her, a silent promise of