Mila cast Claire a sidelong glance, her eyes laced with quiet mockery. There was no need for words; the message was clear enough. She thinks that Claire was overestimating herself, mistaking her own cunning for something far more impressive than it actually was.
Yes, surviving three years in vampire territory required a certain level of intelligence and adaptability, but that alone did not make her untouchable.
In the court of the Alpha King, such tactics were nothing new. These were people who had grown up surrounded by power, by politics, by schemes layered beneath polished smiles.
Compared to that, Claire's efforts felt almost… transparent. The kind of maneuvering that might impress outsiders, but would never slip past eyes trained to detect deceit from a distance.
Certainly not the Alpha King.
Under the Alpha King's scrutiny, nothing so obvious would go unnoticed. And Mila knew it. That was why her gaze lingered just a moment longer, amused and unimpressed.
