Silence settled over the room.
I exhaled sharply. “And her mate?”
The question slipped out before I could stop it. The thought of another male standing beside her made my wolf stir with a possessiveness I had no right to feel.
Gideon shook his head. “No mate. At least, not publicly. Some whispers say she rejected every suitor who approached her. Others claim she’s waiting for someone… but that part is pure speculation.”
Waiting.
The word lodged somewhere behind my ribs. I pushed it away.
I rose from the couch and walked to the window, staring out at the moonlit forest that bordered our territory. “I want more. Names. Dates. How she survived the first year after banishment. Who helped her then? What her weaknesses are now.”
“Alpha…” Gideon’s tone held a warning. “Pushing too hard int
