The jet's engines hummed beneath me—steady, powerful, inevitable.
I leaned back in the leather seat, watching the clouds blur past the window. We'd taken off from Ashwood Packs' private strip twenty minutes ago, and already the tension of Black Talon felt like something I'd left on the ground.
Up here, there was only forward momentum.
And my mates.
Cade sat across from me, eyes closed, breathing deep and even. Not asleep—just resting. Letting the adrenaline bleed out after days of territorial posturing and pack politics. His presence alone steadied the air around him.
But River—
River wasn't sleeping.
I felt his gaze before I saw it. That prickle of awareness that came from being watched by someone who knew exactly what they were looking at.
I turned my head slowly.
He was sprawle
