Chapter 38

• Arthur Green’s eyes snapped away from me as the heavy, suffocating aura of two apex predators rolled over the paved courtyard.
• Ryder closed the distance first, his massive frame coming to a halt directly beside me, his broad shoulder brushing mine as he deliberately positioned himself between my father and me. Dante followed a heartbeat later, moving with the quiet, chilling precision of an executioner as he stepped up on my other side, completely boxing me in.
• The contrasting scents—pine, cedar, and the sharp, freezing bite of winter ozone—flooded the open air, clashing violently with my father’s stale, bitter-ash Beta scent.