"Josh was my best friend," he says finally. "The way Caleb is a brother to you, that's what Josh was to me. We grew up together, him and me and Cass, the three of us, before Cass turned. Josh wasn't blood, wasn't a wolf even, he was, we had humans in the pack lands, families that served, and Josh was one of them, and he never cared that I was the heir, never treated me like a function. He just liked me. Me. It was rare." His jaw works. "And when I was seventeen, there was a fight. Some older wolves, a challenge to me, the kind of thing heirs face. And it went bad, and there was blood, my blood, and the wolf took me, the way I've told you, the loss of control. And Josh, Josh tried to pull me back. He was the only one brave enough or stupid enough to get close, to try to reach me the way you
