It always left her feeling strangely defeated.
Kade could sense every shift in her emotions with effortless clarity, while she could only glimpse fragments of his own.
"It was chaotic back at the Blackwood Village," he said softly before lowering his forehead until it rested against hers. A brief kiss followed, gentle and reassuring, carrying far more comfort than words ever could.
Several steps behind them, Ryker came to an unconscious halt.
For a long moment, he simply watched.
Hours earlier, he had witnessed this same man stand inside the underground detention wing, delivering judgment with terrifying calm while servants trembled before him, their lives hanging upon every answer they gave.
Now...
The Royal Alpha who inspired fear throughout the werewolf world stood holding his mate with such quiet tenderness that the two images refused to reconcile in Ryker's mind.
Only then did he truly understand something that no report or battlefield account could ever have conveyed.
