Chapter 201

ANDREA’S POV The crowd stretched for blocks. Reporters pressed against the barriers, their lenses glinting like sniper scopes. Protesters packed the sidewalk, some screaming my name, others spitting it. Drones hovered like metallic vultures above the open-air stage in the city’s central plaza. Tension hummed in the air, tightened my skin, shallowed my breath. And beside me—right where I wanted him—stood Mayor Blackstone. He wore a modest navy suit and a rehearsed look of concern. His mouth was pinched in a faux grimace of sympathy, but his eyes… That was fucking triumph gleaming in them. “I appreciate you doing the right thing,” he murmured, just loud enough for me to hear. My lip twitched. I turned toward him slowly. “You mean cooperating?” “I mean, not dragging this out. Facing the consequences with dignity.” He smiled, bright and white and false. “It speaks well of you, Alpha Andrea. Of your leadership.” “I promised you a formal public statement,” I ground out. “I’m a woman of my wo