Serena had barely crossed the eastern gate when Alessandro heard the second alarm from the palace, and the sound seemed to travel through the morning air with a peculiar urgency that made every instinct in him sharpen at once; he stopped beside the waiting carriage, turned toward Regina, and felt the old burden of command settle across his shoulders with such familiarity that it almost seemed a part of his body.
"Go," Elena said quietly, catching his sleeve before he could move. "If that alarm concerns Elara, you cannot waste another moment wondering whether it is a trap."
Alessandro looked down at her hand, then at her face. "And if it is exactly what you suspect?"
"Then we deal with it when we reach the palace."
"You make that sound simple."
"It is not simple," Elena replied, releasing him slowly, "but neither is being Alpha, and you have spent years pretending difficulty is the same thing as impossibility."
