Catherine's POV
I pushed open the studio door and stepped into the late afternoon light. A whole afternoon with Kate had slipped past me without warning. I paused on the threshold and looked back at her. She was still on the floor, bent over her sketches, slim shoulders curved with concentration. Quietly fierce now, like a girl who had finally stopped apologizing for taking up space.
I pressed my lips together, turned, and walked toward the corner where Damian was waiting.
I told him everything. Kate's plan. Her decision to step into the spotlight, to use her own face as bait and draw Vivienne and the rogue Alpha out into the open. I did not soften any of it.
"This is the last thing I'll do for you," I said. "Call it a small favor. It hardly evens what you've done for me, but it's what
