~ROBERT'S POV~
"Alpha."
The single word cut cleanly through the storm of thoughts crowding my head, sharp as a blade drawn too close to the throat. I stiffened, my focus snapping outward as instinct surged to the surface.
I looked up sharply. "What?"
The guards had been forming a loose line a few paces away, awaiting my next command, but one of them had stepped forward. His posture was rigid, shoulders squared too tightly, as if discipline alone was keeping his nerves in check. His eyes flicked briefly to the others before settling back on me, alert, cautious, troubled. The hesitation was subtle, barely a heartbeat long, yet it told me everything.
Whatever he'd found wasn't insignificant.
"We found something."
