**Kael's point of view**

The silence in our rooms was a real thing that was thick and hard to breathe. It had a taste, like the bitter ash of burned bridges and fears that weren't spoken. Lyra had taken Kenny to the nursery next door, and her leaving was a silent accusation. The sound of my own roar still seemed to shake the stone walls. I had never yelled at her like that before. The control I was proud of, the unshakable core of the Alpha, had broken under the weight of one terrible truth: I ...