A pause.
"I'm an orphan," he said simply. "People decide who you are before you open your mouth. They're doing the same thing to her."
It explained something. Not everything.
"I don't trust it," Fenrir said.
"Neither do I," I said.
The orphan detail had landed at exactly the right moment, in exactly the right way. I'd heard enough calculated honesty to recognize its texture.
"Know your place," I said. My brothers stepped in slightly on either side, the combined weight of three future Alphas filling the space without any of us raising our voices.
Zander nodded. "I already do."
Then the bond pulsed.
Sharp. Wrong.
I stepped back and turned before I'd finished the thought. Ryker had gone rigid. Soren stilled completely.
"Where's Ayla?" I asked.
Ryker was already scanning. "She was
