Nolan:
The knock on my office door came just as Alessandro left, thankfully before I said something I’d regret.
I didn’t look up.
Though the tension within the pack was not one that I did not notice, whoever came had masked their scent. Still, I knew that no one would be foolish to come and make a mistake like this one within my own grounds.
“Enter.”
The door creaked open slowly, and in walked Elder Mathew, ever regal in his pressed robes, his salt-and-pepper beard trimmed, posture impossibly upright. His presence always carried the weight of tradition. Of expectations. Of judgment.
His eyes were dark with anticipation, and for a second he just looked around without saying a word. He was studying me, waiting for me to flinch, but I was not going to give him that. I was no fool. And t
