The heavy oak doors of Alpha Darius’s office shut behind him, and the echo rolled down the corridor like a gavel striking final judgment.
The sound lingered — deep, resonant — sealing Michael in silence that felt almost alive. The air thickened around him, heavy with dominance, shame, and the raw aftertaste of power that wasn’t his.
Silence swallowed the hall. Heavy. Condemning.
Michael stood frozen, shoulders stiff, chest rising and falling in shallow bursts. His fingers still tingled where Darius had grabbed him — that brief, humiliating contact still burned into his skin. His breath trembled, caught somewhere between a growl and a gasp.
Inside him, his wolf prowled.
We were humiliated, it snarled, pacing the walls of his mind. He touched us. He threatened us. He disrespected us.
M
