Darien
I hadn't planned to stay.
The balcony above the training yard was cold as hell, the wind cutting through even the thick fur lining of my coat. I'd come up here to check on the new officers, to see if Leah was making any progress with them. A quick glance, maybe ten minutes, then I'd head back inside to deal with the mountain of paperwork waiting on my desk.
But then she'd stepped onto the training field, and I'd stayed.
I told myself it was professional curiosity. She was an unknown variable, an outsider brought in to help rebuild a pack that had been gutted and restructured. I needed to know if she could handle herself. She wasn’t the first we had asked to come to the pack. Everyone else left with their tails tucked the following day. Did we really need help? No, we were doing
