Kael's POV
The dining room was too quiet.
Forks scraped against plates with careful, forced calm. Ronan sat at the head of the table like a king wearing a crown he'd stolen. Henry watched him with cold patience. Zara's fingers drummed nervously on the wooden surface. And Aria… she wouldn't even look at me.
Ronan kept giving a knowing smile.
The kind of smile that said he already knew something that would destroy me.
I exhaled slowly, then asked the only question that mattered.
"Where is the girl?"
Ronan didn't flinch. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, then:
"There's still much time ahead to discuss that."
A smirk. Disrespect.
My hand slammed onto the table so hard the silverware rattled.
"Enough of the bullshit."
Ronan rose at once. "You do not raise your voice at me, Kael. I'm not the little brother you used to order around. I am the Alpha of Blackwood."
My wolf slammed against my ribs—demanding blood.
