ALEXANDER
I barely lowered the phone before Cole was already watching me, his earlier annoyance completely gone.
“What’s going on?” he asked, serious now.
“Irene,” I said. “She just landed. Mom was supposed to pick her up… but her phone is off.”
Cole frowned. “Helen doesn’t turn her phone off.”
“No,” I agreed quietly. “She doesn’t.”
I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. I never did—panic without confirmation was sloppy, and I hated being sloppy. But instinct was already stirring, sharp and insistent at the back of my mind.
“I’m going to check on her myself,” I added.
Cole blinked. “I thought you would send someone… maybe Derek, since he’s closer.”
“Not yet,” I said. “If it’s nothing, I don’t want to turn it into a scene. No police, no pack alarms. Not until I know.”
He studied me
