“Mom… Dad… I don’t want to be the next Alpha.”
The words fell from Leo’s mouth like stones into a still pool—small at first, then widening ripples through every soul in the room. His voice trembled, but there was steel under the shaking. The truth had weight; it landed and would not be pulled back.
“It’s not for me,” he continued, eyes fixed on his father as if daring the world to argue. “I’m sorry if I disappoint you, but I don’t want to be Alpha. All I want is a simple, peaceful life. Becoming Alpha is the opposite of that.”
For a second the room was nothing but the sound of breath. The tapestry of family history, centuries of expectation, and the ghosts of choices long made hovered in the air like dust motes in a shaft of light.
Kathy’s face was a map of conflicting things—relief, s
