Gonzalo stood frozen in Liora's chamber, staring down at her as she knelt so quietly that the air itself seemed to hold its breath. Her posture was straight, poised, perfectly aligned; her eyes were steady, unclouded, waiting. She looked powerful, regal even, yet there was an eerie stillness beneath her gaze that made the back of his neck prickle.
She didn't know she had lost anything.
She didn't know he had gained everything.
And the weight of that truth pressed against his chest like a stone.
He forced himself to breathe.
Liora, the Alpha, Queen of the Night Court, the strongest shapeshifter born in three generations, knelt before him with absolute obedience.
But the world outside her doors wasn't quiet. It wasn't calm. It wasn't stable.
