The pack house felt suffocating after Lydia left. Kai sat in the common room, staring at his hands like they belonged to someone else. Riley hovered nearby, uncertain how to help. Luna had disappeared to make calls to damage control, she'd said grimly.
I sat down beside Kai, close enough that our shoulders almost touched. "Talk to me."
"There's nothing to say." His voice was hollow. "She's going to win. She always wins."
"She hasn't won yet."
"You don't understand." He finally looked at me, and the despair in his eyes was familiar. I'd seen it in my own reflection for months. "She's an Alpha's daughter. Her pack controls three territories. She has the Council in her pocket. And I'm just- I'm nobody. A male who can't even protect himself from his own mate."
The shame in those last word
