Chapter Twenty-Five – Cracks in the Pearl
Jalen
The Pearl Pack compound didn’t feel like home anymore.
The great hall—once full of warmth and laughter, echoing with the pack’s loyalty—was tense, strained. Warriors lowered their gazes when Jalen passed. Omegas whispered when they thought he couldn’t hear. Even his Beta, Rowan, had begun to hold back, reporting only what was necessary, his tone clipped and watchful.
They saw it.
They all saw it.
The fracture.
Chelsea tried to fill the void left behind by Evandra, but she was no Luna. Her presence was sharp, brittle. She snapped at the kitchen staff for meals not meeting her “standards,” chastised warriors for leaving mud on the floors, and threw fits if attention wasn’t centered on her. Her pregnancy became both her weapon and her
