Alice blocked my path. "We're not arguing. We're just having a conversation."
Her eyes flashed, and I felt the subtle ripple of her wolf trying to intimidate me. It wasn't going to work. Not anymore. Not today.
A strange calm washed over me, a clarity born of years of suppressed emotion.
"You know, Alice," I began, my voice steady, surprising even myself. "I actually feel sorry for you."
Her sneer faltered. "Sorry for me?"
"Yes. You had everything. The best childhood, loving parents—" our parents, I thought, a quiet bitterness, "and for a time, even Astor. Yet somehow, you were never satisfied. That's why you decided to come after me with everything you had."
My voice grew stronger, fueled by a truth I had kept buried for too long. "I still don't understand what I ever did to you. Ev
