The Hollow Alpha

ROMAN

The weight of silence in the car was suffocating. Marcus kept his eyes fixed on the road, hands gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. He hadn't uttered a single word since we'd left Moonstone territory. Smart man.

I stared out the window, watching the familiar landscape blur past. The peace treaty was signed—a political victory that should have felt triumphant. Instead, all I could feel was the raw, jagged hole that had opened in my chest the moment I accused Vanessa of betrayal.

Her face. Gods, her face when I showed her that map.

The disbelief. The hurt. The fury that had transformed her delicate features into something fierce and wounded.

"We're almost home, Alpha," Marcus finally said, his voice careful and neutral.

Home. The word tasted bitter now. What was I returning to? An empty mansion filled with people who feared me more than they respected me. A cold bed. A colder future.