--- I followed behind Kyle as he led me to the prisoner, every sense inside me was sharp, alert. I knew Alexander was right. It wasn't safe to go in, but it was usually more effective. The prisoner was waiting. Bound, bruised, but far from broken. I’d seen men like him before—wolves hardened by violence, who’d been taught that silence was their only form of loyalty. They fed on fear, believed pain was the only language worth listening to. Men like him didn’t crack under force. They cracked when you found the one thing they feared losing more than their own life. I stepped into the cell, arms loosely folded, and let my eyes sweep over him once. “Comfortable?” I asked lightly, as though we weren’t standing in a place that reeked of rust and blood. He smirked, lips curled back against s

