บททั้งหมดของ First Female Alpha : บทที่ 71 - บทที่ 80

Alpha Marcus Shadowpine's POVI watched Aria Nightborne walk away from the neutral meeting ground with the kind of careful attention I reserved for evaluating potential threats or opportunities. After two hours of negotiation, I still wasn't entirely sure which category she fell into."What do you think?" my advisor Elena asked as we gathered our own materials for the return journey."I think Silver Moon Pack has produced something remarkable.""In what way?""In every way that matters for pack leadership."I'd come to this meeting expecting to deal with either Alpha Lysander's continued authority or a young heir who would try to prove herself through aggressive territorial defense. What I'd encountered instead was someone who approached complex problems with the kind of strategic thinking that suggested formal training combined with natural diplomatic instincts."She's very young," Elena observed. "And female. Two factors that typically don't correlate with effective pack leadership.

Aria's POVThree days after sending the letter to Caspian, I was beginning to regret the impulse that had made me write it in the first place."You're pacing again," my father observed from his desk where he was reviewing territorial agreements."I'm thinking.""You're worrying about whether young Stormbane will respond to your letter.""Am I that transparent?""Only to people who've known you your entire life."I stopped pacing and dropped into the chair across from him. "What if he doesn't respond? What if I've pushed too hard, revealed too much about how I feel?""Then you'll have learned something important about what's possible between you.""That's not particularly comforting.""Leadership decisions rarely are. But uncertainty is better than continued avoidance."He was right, though I wasn't ready to admit it out loud. The letter had been a risk, exposing feelings I'd been trying to keep controlled while I focused on pack responsibilities."The territorial agreement with Shadow

Aria's POVThe correspondence with Caspian became a routine over the following weeks. Letters exchanged every few days, filled with updates about pack responsibilities, leadership challenges, and the gradual process of learning to trust each other again.His latest letter sat on my desk, opened but not yet fully processed.*The pressure of returning home is different than I expected. Everyone has opinions about what I should prioritize, how I should handle territorial disputes, which traditions I should maintain versus which I should reform. It's exhausting trying to balance what my pack expects with what I learned at the Academy.*I understood that pressure intimately. The Silver Moon Pack had accepted my leadership role, but acceptance didn't mean universal enthusiasm. Every decision I made was scrutinized through the lens of whether female leadership was proving itself viable."How's the correspondence going?" my father asked, entering my office where I'd been reviewing territorial

Aria's POVWe ended up in my private study, a room that felt less formal than the greeting hall but still carried the weight of pack leadership responsibilities. Maps, reports, and correspondence covered my desk in organized chaos."This is where I spend most of my time," I said, gesturing around the space. "Managing territorial agreements, reviewing pack business, corresponding with regional authorities.""And with me," Caspian added."And with you."He settled into one of the chairs, looking around the room with the kind of attention that suggested he was trying to understand who I was in this environment."It's different from the Academy," he observed."Everything's different from the Academy. There, I was trying to prove I could succeed in a male environment. Here, I'm trying to prove that female leadership serves pack interests as well as traditional approaches.""How's that going?""Better than I expected. The territorial agreement with Shadowpine Pack helped establish credibili

Caspian's POVThe week at Silver Moon territory was ending, and I'd learned more about Aria than months of Academy training had revealed. But I'd also been avoiding thinking about what waited for me when I returned home."You're quiet tonight," Aria observed as we walked through the pack gardens after dinner."Thinking about my own return home.""Nervous?""Terrified. You've already established yourself here, proven your capabilities to your pack. I'm returning as an heir who hasn't yet demonstrated he can lead.""You graduated with honors from the Academy. That's significant proof.""Academic honors don't translate automatically to pack confidence. Especially when everyone remembers you as the child who got lost during his first solo hunt."She laughed, the sound genuine and warm. "You got lost during a hunt?""I was eight. And the forest all looks the same when you're panicking.""What happened?""My father found me six hours later, sitting by a stream trying to figure out how to ex