Hunter waited until they were back inside their residence before locking the sitting-room doors.
The accommodation provided by the island administration was smaller than their usual royal quarters, built of pale local stone with dark timber beams crossing the ceiling. Wind rattled faintly against the tall windows, carrying the distant sound of the sea up from the harbor below. A fire had been lit before their return, but none of them paid much attention to it.
Boreas had been left with Taylor in the adjoining suite.
For once, Dean was grateful.
He did not need an enormous dog attempting to lie across the maps.
Dean had changed out of the violet suit from dinner and into loose black trousers and a soft grey sweater. Arion had discarded his jacket but remained in his black shirt, sleeves pushed to his forearms. Hunter had not changed at all. His tie was loosened, and his coat lay across the back of a chair while he spread photographs of the western residence across the table.
The two dominant alphas remained at the center.
Dean stared at them.
"One," he said.
Hunter glanced at him. "One?"
"We could deal with one."
Arion stood opposite him, both palms against the edge of the table.
"Yes."
It was not arrogance.
Dean knew exactly what the three of them were capable of together.
His neutralizing field could strip away another dominant’s advantage piece by piece. Pheromones. Ability. The instinctive pressure that made ordinary alphas hesitate before a stronger one. If Dean stayed close enough and concentrated carefully, he could force the fight onto physical skill instead.
Against one dominant alpha, that mattered enormously.
Hunter tapped the older man’s photograph.
"You suppress him. Arion engages. I keep everyone else away."
Dean nodded.
It was ugly, but possible.
Arion could fight without relying on pheromones. Better than almost anyone Dean knew. Dean could keep the opposing alpha from using his ability effectively while controlling the surrounding space.
The problem was that Dean could not neutralize everything at once without creating vulnerabilities.
"I can shut down one area completely," Dean said. "Or interfere with both of them badly enough to make their abilities unreliable. I cannot guarantee complete suppression on two dominant alphas while also protecting us from whatever else is inside that residence."
Hunter gave a short nod.
That matched his assessment.
Arion remained quiet.
Dean looked at the second photograph.
The younger dominant alpha had been captured near the rear entrance of the villa, broad shoulders beneath a dark coat, head turned slightly toward something beyond the camera. There was nothing especially remarkable about the image until Dean remembered that the man beside him was supposed to be among the strongest secondary genders alive.
Two of them.
Together.
"They have worked as a pair for years," Hunter said. "That is what worries me more than raw output."
Dean understood.
They knew each other.
Knew where the other moved.
Knew each other’s abilities well enough to compensate automatically.
A coordinated pair of dominant alphas was considerably worse than two powerful strangers standing beside each other.
Arion finally straightened.
"If they decide we are a threat, Dean becomes their first target."
Dean frowned. "I can protect myself."
"I know."
The answer came immediately.
That was not the point.
Arion moved one of the photographs aside and exposed the rough floor plan beneath it.
"The moment you neutralize them, they know what you are."
Dean’s fingers pressed against the tabletop.
His field was useful precisely because most opponents did not understand what was happening at first. Their pheromones weakened. An ability failed. An instinctive advantage disappeared.
Against experienced dominants, confusion lasted seconds.
Maybe less.
"And then they go for me," Dean said.
"Yes."
Arion could stop one.
Hunter could intercept ordinary security.
But if the second dominant alpha reached Dean while Arion was already engaged—
Dean stared at the map.
That was where the problem became lethal.
Arion would have to fight while protecting Dean, monitoring Hunter, controlling his own pheromones, and making sure the rest of the residence did not become collateral damage.
Amaru could be inside.
Civilian staff were inside.
They did not even know whether the two alphas were enemies.
A full confrontation was unacceptable.
Hunter pulled another sheet forward.
"The only workable advantage is surprise."
Dean looked up.
Hunter pointed to the residence perimeter.
"They do not know we know who they are. They may know you are on the island, but officially tomorrow you are visiting the reserve."
"And if we approach?" Dean asked.
"We probably get one chance before they recognize intent."
Arion’s expression had gone cold.
"One dies immediately."
Hunter nodded.
Dean looked between them.
He knew what they meant.
There would be no warning. No demand to surrender first. Not if these men were guarding Amaru against anyone who might reach him and could raise an alarm fast enough to seal the residence or remove the prince before local authorities understood what was happening.
One moment of surprise.
One target removed before the fight truly started.
Arion could do that.
Because Arion was a sigma.
There were very few dominants Dean would trust to kill another dominant alpha before the man had the chance to respond.
Arion was one of them.
Perhaps the only one available.
Dean looked back at the second photograph.
"And then there is still one."
The room went quiet.
Hunter leaned against the table.
"Exactly."
Dean began walking slowly around the room, thinking.
His neutralization field could make the survivor vulnerable.
But only after Arion exposed himself by killing the first.
And a dominant alpha watching his partner die would not hesitate.
"He could alert whoever is outside the island," Dean said.
"Yes."
"He could kill Amaru."
"Possibly."
"Or take him somewhere else."
"Yes."
Dean stopped beside the window.
The glass reflected the room behind him: Arion standing over the maps, Hunter beside him, photographs scattered across the table between them.
They had spent days trying to reach this island.
They had found Amaru.
And now two men stood between them and the only person who might prevent Draxil from turning into a war zone.
Dean hated needing more people.
Especially here.
Every additional person meant another secret exposed, another arrival to explain, another chance that whoever controlled the villa learned what they were doing.
"We cannot bring Hendrik," he said.
Hunter shook his head. "Too far, and his departure from Alamina would be noticed immediately."
"Dax?"
Arion looked at him.
Dean dismissed that himself.
"No. Absolutely not."
Hunter’s mouth twitched faintly.
A Saharian king arriving unexpectedly on Snake Island while his generals were openly considering invading Draxil would be difficult to disguise as tourism.
"Thomas is in Rohan," Dean continued. "Trevor is in Palatine. Sebastian is not compatible with this kind of fight, and bringing anyone from Alamina would create movement we cannot hide."
Arion watched him think.
Dean went back to the table.
"We need someone who can take a dominant alpha."
"Yes," Arion said.
"Someone strong enough that I do not have to keep complete suppression on him every second."
"Yes."
"Someone whose sudden arrival here would not immediately become a political incident."
Hunter looked at Dean.
That narrowed the list considerably.
Dean stared down at the two photographs again.
One dominant alpha could be removed by Arion before the fight began.
The second needed someone strong enough to keep him occupied while Dean neutralized the battlefield and Hunter controlled everything else.
Someone who could travel independently in time and someone who would come if Dean called without requiring a diplomatic explanation first.
Dean slowly lifted his head.
Arion had reached the same conclusion.
Hunter apparently had too.
Dean sighed.
"Nero."
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