Tangled Threads

Alpha Gideon POV

I dragged myself away from the rough stone wall of the drafty corridor, leaving the muffled hum of the dining hall far behind me. My heavy boots thudded against the floorboards, the sound echoing hollowly as I climbed the winding, torch-lit stairs toward the private Alpha wing. My muscles did not ache from combat, nor from the familiar strain of a grueling border patrol. Instead,