Shadow's voice came low. "Or preparation."
Rowan didn't speak, but his attention stayed locked forward, tension settling into him in a way that suggested he understood more than he liked.
Lucan heard all of it. Every word. And unlike the others, he didn't need to think about what it meant. Because the moment Voss had said he tried to mark her, something in him had already made a decision. His tail stilled. His pace didn't change. Felicity didn't notice anything at all as she rested lightly against him, completely at ease.
But beneath that calm, something had shifted into place that wasn't going to move again.
And for the first time since they entered Orange, Lucan stopped treating the town like a place they were passing through.
