#Chapter 24: More Questions Than Answers

ELENA The air in the amphitheater still carried the weight of last night’s Alpha Ball. It had been a triumph of an evening—everything that the Alpha Council had hoped it would be and more. But I couldn’t enjoy my achievement. The glow of candlelit lanterns had long since faded, the laughter and music now only echoes in my mind, but I felt no satisfaction in its success. My thoughts were elsewhere—on the weight of Logan’s hand at my back, the way my family beamed at him with approval, and the unmistakable look in Derek’s eyes as he watched from across the crowd. I had played my part well. Smiled at the right moments. Nodded at the right times. Let my family’s warmth toward Logan settle around me… like a cage. But Derek had been there, watching. The tension between us had been palpable, unspoken but undeniable, lingering in the charged air long after he’d been forced to walk away. And Logan— I saw him as my closest friend, not the mate I would spend my life with. And he