Lorraine's POV
My breath hitched.
It wasn't the cold steel of the sword that had brushed my neck moments ago. It wasn't even the Alpha King's bloodstained presence looming in the center of the room.
It was the moment he turned, took the blood-slick blade, and handed it to Kieran.
"You kill her."
The words dropped like thunder in my chest.
For the first time since he entered the room, Kieran's expression shifted, just barely. A flicker of something... hesitation? disbelief?, crossed his eyes before he swallowed it whole, returning to that blank, unreadable mask he wore like a second skin.
But he didn't say a word.
He didn't argue.
And worse.... he didn't refuse.
The Alpha King's voice boomed again. "I will not repeat myself."
And then he moved.
Kieran began to walk toward me.
Each step was slow. Purposeful. Silent.
The sword hung at his side, heavy, its sharp tip trailing a faint line across the marble as he closed the distance between us.
I didn't breathe.
I couldn't.
