Kael's POV
The stench of suburban life hit me like a physical blow. Manicured lawns. Identical houses. Asphalt roads cutting through what was once wild territory. This was Fiddleback Pack land?
"This is wrong," I growled, my wolf Lykos bristling beneath my skin.
Deputy Marshal Rhys cleared his throat beside me. "High Alpha, the Fiddleback Pack has fully integrated with human society. They find it... beneficial."
I surveyed the sterile landscape with growing disgust. No scent markers. No hunting grounds. No wildness. Just a sanitized human suburb with perfect fences and regulation-height grass.
"Beneficial," I repeated, the word tasting foul on my tongue. "At what cost?"
Jax stepped up beside me, his expression equally troubled. "There's wealth here," he observed quietly. "More than a small pack should have."
I nodded in grim agreement. The houses were expensive. The cars parked in driveways were luxury models. Everything about this place reeked of unnatural prosperity.
