Third Person POV
Alaric did not return to Moonstone.
That alone would have been enough to unsettle anyone who knew him well.
He left Silver Fang without ceremony, declining the escort Nolan quietly offered, declining even to say goodbye properly to Ellie. He kissed her forehead, touched the boys once more, and then he was gone—his presence withdrawing like the eye of a storm passing overhead.
But storms did not dissipate so easily.
The city lights blurred past as Alaric drove, his hands steady on the wheel, his mind anything but. He did not need to ask where Kieran was staying. Men like Kieran always chose the same kinds of places—luxury wrapped in visibility, security meant more for show than substance.
A hotel that boasted discretion while offering none. The opule
