Chapter 302

THIRD PERSON’S POV The chamber of the royal assembly was nothing like the council hall of the Alphas. Where the council’s meetings carried the heavy scent of dominance and rivalry, this hall hummed with a colder, more measured power. Tapestries of past kings lined the walls, gilded sconces throwing golden light across the long table carved from stone older than any pack seated there. The Alphas who had filled the common conference yesterday now sat straighter, more careful, in the presence of the royals. Their voices were lower, their eyes sharper. Every word spoken here would be weighed not just by their peers, but by those who carried the authority of thrones. Among them was Olivia. She entered quietly, no crown upon her brow, no need for ornament. She carried herself with the ease of one who had nothing left to prove. Though she had refused the royal stage since Dominic had taken the throne, she sometimes appeared at his side—or in his stead—when matters pressed too heavily to ignor