Lorien POV

“I… uh…” Alpha Destrell faltered, and my eyes widened. Never, in all my years under his rule, had I witnessed him show weakness yet here it was, raw and unguarded. That alone was a warning bell.

“Did I not make your deadline clear?” Alpha Orlin’s growl rolled through the hall like distant thunder, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

What was wrong with me? He wasn’t even close enough to touch me, yet terror crept into my bones as though his ...