My throat tightened.
In front of William, I could still brush it off with something like “He’s too busy.”
But in front of Tina, that excuse was flimsy.
She wasn’t stupid.
She’d lived her whole life under pack rules. She knew exactly what the words “illegitimate daughter” meant, bloodline stain, the Elders’ Council’s judgment, the family’s disgrace.
Seeing I didn’t answer immediately, Tina’s expression darkened further. She reached for the phone on the bedside table. “I’m going to see him right now.”
Instinctively, I tried to stop her. “Tina—”
Her eyes sharpened, authority in her voice that didn’t allow refusal:
“Julie, are you not even listening to me anymore?”
At that moment, my chest felt twisted into a knot.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to explain.
It was that I didn’t know h
