The heavy wooden doors creaked open, and every conversation in the council chamber died.

Kia stepped inside, his steps slow and measured, the sound of his boots echoing against the marble floor. The air shifted — tense, heavy, afraid. The elders, once confident men who had advised Alphas for generations, now kept their heads bowed. Even the torches lining the walls seemed to burn quieter when he entered.

He liked that.

Fear has its place, he thought. Fear keeps the kingdom in line.

Lucia ...