Kieran exhales slowly, rolling his shoulders .
"Since there's no waiting… I'll do it right now."
The moment those words leave his lips, silence falls. Every wolf hears him. Every conversation dies. The energy shifts as tension coils tight in the air. No one moves, no one speaks.
Ace's breath catches. He knows what's coming. He has seen it once before, but that was a long time ago. Kieran doesn't shift in front of others often. And when he does, it's not something easily forgotten.
A flicker of anticipation curls in Ace's chest, mixing with something deeper, something instinctual.
Kieran doesn't waste another second.
He steps forward, rolling his head as if loosening unseen restraints.
The power in the air thickens, pressing down on them like an invisible force.
Ace feels it in his bones, in the sharp prickle against his skin. Every wolf does. The sheer dominance of an alpha's transformation isn't something that can be ignored.