Gideon’s POV
The silence in the hall pressed against me heavily, it felt thick and suffocating. All eyes watched me—their Alpha, their leader waiting for my decision, waiting to see if I would bend beneath the weight of history, or rise above it.
Darius still knelt before me even after I scolded him harshly, his head bowed as he tried to keep his non-existent dignity, invoking the ghost of my father as if the memory of that bond might shield him and his daughter from my judgment.
For a heartbeat, I almost faltered because he was close to my father. My father’s voice, deep and steady, echoed in my mind—“Darius is loyal. Trust him with your life.”
But now my father wasn't here, he would have trusted him but now I am the Alpha and I haven't seen him because a useful asset to me and his da
