KIERAN’S POV
At this point, Sera was probably convinced I was stalking her. And, with how we kept running into each other in the most unlikely places, I wouldn’t blame her.
To be clear, I wasn’t.
Byron was an old friend. He’d been pouring me drinks long before I was Alpha, long before I thought myself untouchable.
He also didn’t know the details of who I was, and something about the anonymity always lifted a weight off my shoulder when I was with him.
When he invited me to his bar’s anniversary celebration, I told myself I’d show up, shake his hand, maybe buy him a congratulatory drink, and leave.
I wasn’t in the mood for crowds or chatter, not with the gravity of the responsibilities I’d accepted at the LST, and my head buzzing with conflicting thoughts and emotions.
And not when Celeste had returned home last night from the last Trial in a foul mood—even more so than usual.
