Darrian's POV
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She stood before me like the Goddess herself had descended into flesh and fury.
Heather.
No-Alpha Heather.
The black-furred wolf that had emerged wasn't just powerful. She radiated dominance, a quiet, devastating command that had stilled even me. She hadn't needed to speak. The air had bent around her.
And I had been too blind to see it.
She stood now in my office, clean from the fight but still cloaked in that aura. A different woman. She wasn't trembling. She wasn't hiding. And despite everything in me screaming that this should change the way I saw her, it hadn't.
It had just made things worse.
Because now I wanted her more-and hated myself for ever thinking her weak.
I closed the door behind us and turned to face her, arms crossed over my chest. "Why didn'
