ALEXANDER
My office felt smaller than usual.
Not physically—but the air was thick, pressing in around me, buzzing with unfinished thoughts and instincts that refused to stay quiet. I could hardly concentrate on work.
I could still picture the moment I saw Faye standing in my mother’s house, shaken but alive...even though she was a little bit shaken.
But she was alive.
That single fact was the only reason I was still holding myself together.
Then my phone rang, and jumped to me feet.
I stood by the window, phone pressed to my ear, fingers drumming once against the glass before stilling. Derek’s voice came through the line, clipped and professional as always—but there was an edge to it now. A note I didn’t like.
“We got something, Alpha,” he said.
My shoulders tightened. “Talk to
