Aria

“I never thought I’d say this, but wow someone’s gunning for your asshole crown, Ronan,” I say when those gangly creeps leave.

It’s the lack of sound that makes me turn around. When I do, everyone is staring at me.

Not casually.

Not the normal wow, that was weird kind of staring.

No.

This is the intense, analytical, slightly unsettled kind of staring that makes the back of my neck prickle.

Five large wolves are looking at me like I just grew a second head.

I shift slightly under the weight of their attention.

“…Why are you all looking at me that way?”

My voice breaks the silence in the room.

The Assembly envoy has been gone for maybe three minutes, but the tension they left behind is still hanging in the air like smoke.

I glance toward my brother. “Liam?”

He’s standing beside Barric near the coffee table where the Assembly wolves were sitting earlier.

His brows are furrowed as he studies me.

“We’ve just never seen someone react that way to The Call,” he says slowly.

I cross my arms. “That way, meaning… not liking strangers messing with my brain?”

Barric huffs a quiet laugh.

But Liam shakes his head.

:.

“No,” he says. “Meaning resisting it.”

His gaze flicks briefly toward Ronan. “…unless they were a more dominant wolf.”

That makes my stomach flip.

My eyes instinctively move to Ronan.

He’s leaning back in the chair, arms folded across his chest, his broad shoulders taking up an unfair amount of space in the room.

His dark gaze meets mine.

For just a second, there’s something there.

A flicker of surprise.

Gone almost immediately.

Then he nods once.

Confirmation.

My brain trips over that information.

“Wait,” I say. “Are you telling me the only people who usually fight off the creepy mind control thing are… wolves?”

“Dominant wolves,” Kade clarifies.

He’s leaning back in one of the chairs, long legs stretched out casually in front of him.

His sky–blue eyes meet mine.

And for a moment, I get distracted.

Which is unfair.

I never paid much attention to the way they look, mostly because I hated everything about them. But without the haze of uncontrollable rage, it was annoyingly apparent how lickable they all were.

Especially after meeting the rest of the pack.

Because apparently all shifters are mixed with some sort of impossibly sexy DNA that makes their gaze just as dangerous as their claws.

Those blue eyes are bright and sharp, and there’s something warm behind them that catches me off guard.

I clear my throat.

Focus, Aria.

Barric tilts his head slightly.

“How did it feel?”

I blink.

“…what?”

“The Call,” he says.

His voice is curious, not threatening.

“How did it feel when they tried to use it on you?”

I pause.

Actually thinking about it.

Because in the moment, I mostly just reacted.

But now that I replay it in my head…

“It feels like…” I hesitate.

The room is quiet.

Everyone waiting.

“…pressure.”

Five wolves lean in slightly.

I frown, trying to find the right words.

“Wrong pressure,” I add.

“What do you mean?” Liam asks.

I rub the back of my neck thoughtfully.

“It’s like… you know when you’re about to get sick?”

They stare at me.

“That moment before a cold hits,” I explain.

“When something in your body just feels off.”

“You can’t see it yet, but you know something’s wrong.”

Barric nods slowly.

“Your instincts are warning you.”

“Yeah,” I say.

“That.”

Kade leans forward a little.

“So how did you stop it?”

My brain stalls.

“…I don’t know.”

Five skeptical looks greet that answer.

“Think. Try your best to put it into words,” Ronan says.

His voice is calm, but there’s an intensity behind the word.

I sigh. “Okay.”

I close my eyes briefly, remembering the moment when the Assembly wolf pushed against my mind.

“That pressure starts building,” I say slowly.

“Like someone knocking on a door inside your head.”

“Except it’s not a polite knock.”

“It’s more like someone trying to shove the door open.”

Barric’s wolf flickers in his eyes for just a moment.

Interest.

“And then?” he asks.

“I say no.”

The room goes quiet again.

“That’s it?” Kade asks.

“Not exactly.”

I open my eyes and gesture vaguely in the air.

“My mind kind of… shuts it out.”

Liam tilts his head.

“Like when you ignore someone talking to you?”

“Sort of,” I say. “But it takes more effort.” I try to explain the feeling. “It’s like pushing something away from you. With your mind. Like this invisible pressure trying to come closer, and you just keep forcing it back.”

Kade’s brows lift.

Barric glances toward Ronan.

Ronan doesn’t say anything.

But his gaze is locked on me.