Darian stared at me.

Really stared.

Taking in everything the reports couldn't capture the way I held myself, the quiet authority in my posture, the Prime Alpha pressure that radiated from me like heat from a furnace.

I was not the trembling girl he'd humiliated on a stage.

"You..." His voice cracked. He cleared his throat, tried again. "You've changed."

"Have I?" I tilted my head. "Or did you just never bother to look?"

He flinched like I'd hit him. "Lia, I..." "Aurelia," I corrected. "We're not close enough for nicknames, Darian. Not anymore."

His jaw tightened. "Aurelia. I came here because I needed to see you. To talk to...