Yara's POV

The guards barely looked me in the eye as they led me through the corridors, towards Alpha Malachi's chamber; he had summoned me that morning.

Ever since Luna Yulia's arrest, the palace had felt like a wound trying to scab over. Alpha Malachi hadn't been yelling or pacing like I thought he would. He had been quiet. And that was far more dangerous.

When I was shown into his chamber, he was standing by the window with a goblet in his hand, and his back to me. And even from this position, I could see the slump in his shoulders, the exhaustion in his stance. This was a...