Chapter 82 Under Attack
Zion pursed his lips tightly as he glanced around the room, then leaned against the wall and stared out the window. For a brief moment, he looked worn down—defeated, even—but it passed in an instant. He straightened his back like a towering pine, radiating quiet dominance as a cold wave of bloodlust seeped from his body.
He wordlessly reached for the coffee Levi handed him and took a slow sip, eyes distant. Levi didn’t speak. He knew that look all too well—his Alpha was drifting again, lost in thought.
Despite the sharpness in Zion’s gaze, the tension in his jaw, Levi knew it wasn’t anger aimed at anyone else. Zion was thinking about Addison again—about the years that had passed, the things left unsaid, and the weight of his own mistakes. He didn’t need to ask Addison what went wrong. He knew. He had to.
This self-reflection wasn’t a moment of weakness—it was part of his burden, the responsibility he carried as the one who had hurt her. There would be no excuses, no justifications. Zion dissected the past piece by piece, trying to understand every flaw in his decisions so he could become better.
But was he truly improving? Maybe. Or maybe, in his pursuit of growth, he was becoming colder—more unreadable, more distant. Perhaps no one could understand him now... no one except Levi.
And that, Levi knew, was his privilege.
"Still no news?" Zion asked suddenly, his voice low and cold, without glancing at Levi.
Levi let out a heavy sigh, about to respond, when a sharp, panicked voice tore through the mindlink.
"Beta, Alpha! We’re under attack! Rogues are approaching from the east and south borders—at least three dozen of them! We’ve already deployed warriors to intercept, but we need further orders!"