---
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "Do not say things like that too early."
Sofia's expression did not change. "You saw the girl come out as a Cruoraphim from the blood womb. She came out alive. The chance was pretty low. But he had done something that others can't do. Not in his current rank. You felt him trap a bloodline shockwave inside a hidden realm. You watched him drain Alex and now we feel many lower broods under him. It all happened in less than a week."
Natasha said nothing.
Sofia continued, still watching the pair before them. "Now look at him."
Natasha looked.
Really looked.
Sekhmet stood in the center of his hidden world with a transformed wife at his throat, one hand in her hair, one arm around her body, and he did not look overwhelmed. He did not look like a young man lost in the pleasure of feeding or the heat of possession. He looked in command of both. Not untouched by the intimacy, no. That would have been false. But sovereign over it.
