**(James's POV)**
I stared at Madeline's message on my pack communication device, my confusion deepening with each word I read. Lucian Thorne agreeing to a territory hunting agreement? The same Lucian who calculated every move with surgical precision?
"This doesn't make sense," I muttered, running my paws through my hair. "Either he's lost his mind completely, or Elara Rivers has influenced him beyond reason."
The office door burst open without warning. Madeline Bell stumbled in, her face swollen and bruised, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"James!" she sobbed, rushing toward my desk. "Look what she did to me!"
I stood immediately, taking in her appearance. Her left cheek bore the clear mark of claws, and her lower lip was split. But what struck me most was how she seemed to crumple before my eyes, all her usual composure gone.
"Elara did this?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. I remembered her drunken boast on her pack communication device about hitting Madeline.
The
