"And then I lost control with Josh," I agree, and the old shame comes up thick and familiar. "The scent of blood, the wolf, I couldn't stop, and by the time they pulled me off him he was broken, and the whole pack looked at me like the thing they'd always feared I'd become. And I ran. I exiled myself. I couldn't stand what I'd done, couldn't stand my father's face, couldn't stand being the heir who crippled his best friend. So I left it all behind, the throne, the pack, Cass, everything, and I came here to be no one." I shake my head. "I thought I was running from myself. From what I did. And I was. But I left a vacuum when I ran, Anna. A missing heir. A throne with no one on it and an aging Alpha and a pack that needs a future. And who do you think stepped into that space? Who do you thin
