Annie's POV:
The compliment came from nowhere. It came out wrong.
"The dress," Alexander said to the ground, the way a man says something he's embarrassed to say. "It suits you."
I stared at him. The Alpha who had faced down the Northern envoy, the man who had slammed the table so hard the cups jumped, stood in my yard looking at the ground, telling me my dress suited me.
"Thank you, Alpha."
He nodded. He didn't look up.
Jack tugged at his sleeve. "Alpha, did you see Mom do a spin?"
"Jack," I said quickly.
"She fell," Jack announced, with the satisfaction of a witness to history. "You caught her. It was like the stories."
I felt my face heat. Alexander looked at Jack, then at me. Something moved in his face. I couldn't have said what it was. Embarrassment, maybe. Or the thing I ha
