+25 Bonus


    Third Person POV


    ric did not return to Moonstone.


    That alone would have been enough to unsettle anyone who knew him well.


    He left Silver Fang without ceremony, declining the escort Nn quietly offered, declining even to say goodbye properly to Ellie. He kissed her forehead, touched the boys once more, and then he was gone-his presence withdrawing like the eye of a storm passing overhead.


    But storms did not dissipate so easily.


    The city lights blurred past as ric drove, his hands steady on the wheel, his mind anything but. He did not need to ask where Kieran was staying. Men like Kieran always chose the same kinds of ces-luxury wrapped in visibility, security meant more for show than substance.


    A hotel that boasted discretion while offering none. The opulence of the ce would speak to someone like Kieran, someone who was desperate to maintain a certain public image that outpaced his actual station.


    ric almost smiled at the irony. Maybe he would have if the image of Ellie''s fearful face wasn''t so fresh in his mind.


    The security was more than adequate, with guards posted on every floor and cameras sweeping polished corridors. ric moved through them without resistance.


    No challenge came.


    Moonstone didn''t y politics in the way that most packs did. They didn''t have to. ric was respected and feared in equal measure because he had proven himself in every way that mattered.


    The younger warriors wouldn''t have seen him in battle, wouldn''t have lived through the hells that had forged him into one of the most powerful alphas in the kingdom. But they knew his face all the same. They knew the whispers and the fear that apanied his name.


    And because of that, they knew better than to approach him right now.


    Not because no one noticed him-but because every instinct in every living thing he passed told them, unmistakably, that interfering would be a mistake they would not survive.


    By the time he reached Kieran''s suite, the hotel itself seemed to be holding its breath. ric''s anger was a rare thing, which made it all the more unsettling when it was witnessed.


    Kieran was alone.


    He stood near the window, jacket discarded, tie loosened, staring out at the city as if it might offer answers. The television behind him murmured endlessly-news panels reying the debate, Nn''s withdrawal dissected from every possible angle.


    Kieran turned sharply at the sound of the door closing.


    "What the hell-" he started, then stopped.


    ric stood just inside the threshold, hands at his sides, expression calm in a way that was profoundly unsettling.


    "You can''t be here," Kieran said quickly, forcing authority into his voice. "This is a private suite. I''ll have you removed."


    ric did not move.


    +25 Bonus


    He did not raise his voice.


    He did not need to.


    "You won''t," he said softly.


    The wordsnded with unnatural weight, vibrating through the room like a low- frequency growl. The air itself seemed to press inward, heavy and oppressive.


    Kieran swallowed.


    "I don''t know how you got past security," he said, attempting bluster, "but this is uneptable. You need to leave. Now."


    ric took one step forward.


    Kieran''s back brushed the edge of the table behind him.


    "I am not here to negotiate," ric said quietly. "And I am not one to be impressed by titles."


    Kieran lifted his chin. "You don''t have the authority to threaten me."


    ric''s eyes flicked briefly to the television screen, where Nn''s bloodied image froze mid-sentence in a paused rey.


    Authority, he thought, was a funny word.


    He looked back at Kieran.


    “I am Ellie''s father," ric said. “That is all the authority require.”


    The silence that followed was absolute.


    Kieran felt it then-not fear exactly, but something colder. The realization that he was standing in the presence of someone who did not bluff, did not posture, and did not care about consequences the way lesser men did.


    "I didn''t do this,” Kieran said sharply. “Whatever attack you think I''m responsible for-I had nothing to do with it. I would never hurt Ellie. I would never hurt the boys."


    ric studied him with dispassionate intensity.


    "I believe you," he said.


    Kieran blinked, caught off guard.


    “But belief,” ric continued, “is not the same as absolution. And your culpability is


    not limited to this one incident."


    Kieran frowned. "Then why are you here?"


    ric stepped closer still, until there was barely a foot of space between them.


    Kieran could feel the pressure now -the unmistakable presence of an alpha whose power had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with survival.


    +25 Bonus