Ewing, adjusting his spectacles, met the Alpha’s gaze with a sharp, calculated smile. "Mr. Montgomery, understand that this is for the Luna’s protection. Our pack guards its blood with religious fervor, unlike others. Had more vigilance been practiced, she wouldn’t have been taken by scavengers in the first place."

Hudson felt a crushing weight in his chest as he gripped the quill, frozen over the parchment. The accusation bit deep, reinforcing the jagged reality that to the Silver Ridge—and perhaps to Avery—he was viewed as a distant, failing mate.

With another female, Scarlett Vale, technically under his protection for political optics, his stance was compromised. He felt he had neither...