The Heir’s Awakening System

The Domestication Report

The White House SUV was black and armored and waited in the snow like a predator that had already eaten its fill, its engine idling low, its windows revealing nothing.

Margaret Whitmore stood beside it, her coat a shade of gray that matched the sky, her phone held in both hands like a peace offering. "The President sends his regards," she said, her voice pitched to carry across the wind without shouting. "He also sends a question."

Marcus stood on the stoop of the condemned bungalow, Claire asleep on his shoulder, her breath warming the frozen fabric of his coat.

The silver threads on her spine were invisible now, but he could feel them coiled beneath her skin, a sleeping dragon that might never wake. "The answer is no," he said, and his words left no room for negotiation.

Whitmore didn't flinch. She had faced down generals and dictators, and one exhausted father with a quantum baby was not enough to rattle her composure. "He hasn't asked yet."

"He wants to know if Claire can be **w