My lips curved into something that wasn’t a smile.
“Oh, I understand,” I said softly.
The wolf frowned, confusion cutting through the pain. “You… you’re not just an enforcer, are you?”
I straightened fully.
“I am Alexander Blackwell,” I said. “Alpha of Blood Crescent.”
The color drained from his face.
He scrambled backward despite his injury, terror overtaking him. “No—no, that’s not—”
“Look at me,” I ordered.
He did.
And he broke.
“I didn’t know,” he sobbed. “If I’d known it was you, I would’ve—”
“Would have what?” I asked. “Run?”
He shook his head violently. “I wouldn’t have come.”
Cole crossed his arms. “Too late for that.”
I knelt in front of him again, forcing his attention back to me. “You’re going to take me to my mother.”
The wolf’s breathing hitched.
“I can’t,” he
