Kael's POV
The banquet hall buzzed with strained conversation. Pack members moved with practiced precision, their smiles too wide, their laughter too rehearsed. Everything about this place felt wrong.
I stood near the head table, watching Alpha Sterling work the room. After our confrontation on the terrace, he'd regained his composure with alarming speed. Now he played the gracious host, but his eyes darted to me every few seconds.
"Your Majesty?" A server approached with a tray of champagne. "Would you care for a drink?"
I waved her away, my attention fixed on the strange demographics of this pack. Where were all the young adults? The teenagers? Every wolf present appeared to be either over forty or under ten. The middle generation was conspicuously absent.
Jax materialized at my side. "Security detail reports the perimeter is secure, but they found three guards unconscious at the east entrance."
"Sterling's people?" I asked.
"Unknown. They weren't wearing pack identifiers."
