Chapter 16

DOMINIC’S POV I leaned back in my chair, fingers tapping idly against the polished wood of my desk. Jason had requested an urgent meeting, his tone clipped, unreadable. That in itself wasn’t unusual—Jason was a serious man, never one to waste time. But what struck me as odd was his insistence that Evelyn was not to be present. I frowned, the unease gnawing at the back of my mind. I understood that Evelyn wasn’t an official figure of authority in the pack, not in the way Jason or the elders were. She wasn’t a ranked member, nor was she my Luna—not yet, anyway. And yet, she had been attending my meetings for the past few weeks, sitting beside me as if she belonged there. I never questioned it. I never saw a reason to. As long as my work got done, as long as my decisions were made without delay, I didn’t care who sat in the room with me. Evelyn’s presence didn’t bother me. At least, that’s what I told myself. "Yeah, right," my wolf sneered, his voice curling through my mind. "She has no r