Lucien’s POV

The door opened and Dante walked through it.

Yet again, he looked happy to see me, I mirrored his smile with my little one.

The elders straightened when he entered, though none dared speak, the tension in the room was thick enough to choke on.

Dante’s eyes swept the hall once before locking on me again. For a second, he froze. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but the words didn’t come.

“Alpha…” he finally spoke.

I didn’t answer right away. I just ...