The call ended. Kade lowered the phone. Set it on the desk. Said nothing.
Marcus waited. Carefully. "Alpha?"
Kade's thumb moved once across the edge of the untied silk tie beside his hand. "She gave me an order."
Marcus blinked. "…Yes."
Silence.
Then Kade said, very quietly, "Good."
Marcus stared. He had expected outrage. Possibly death. Not this.
Kade leaned farther back, gaze lifting toward the skyline, though he did not seem to see the city. He was seeing Dakota—flushed and indignant in bed, ordering a healer to restrict a Royal Alpha as though she had the right. As though his body were under her authority. As though she belonged close enough to command him.
What struck Kade most was not the denial. It was the claim.
Only a mate did that. Only a Luna spoke through his own people and expected obedience. She had done it instinctively, without even understanding what she had revealed.
