Chapter 12 · Say It Again

"Give it back." I said it flat, no shake in it, even though my hand was already reaching for air where the phone used to be.

Callum held it over his head like we were twelve. Six-four of Alpha, three-piece suit, and he was standing in the archive side room playing keep-away with my recorder like it was a joke and not the only leverage I had left.

"You taped me," he said. "In my own house."

"You rejected me in front of two hundred guests. I think we're past house rules."

His jaw worked. That muscle by his ear, the one that only moves when he's actually rattled and not just performing rattled for an audience. There was no audience now. Just us, a filing cabinet, and a door that didn't lock because the pack never thought anyone would need privacy in a room built for paperwork.

"Delete it," he said.

"No."

"Rowan."

"Say my name like that again and I play it for the elders instead of just you."

That got him. He lowered the phone, but he didn't hand it over — he thumbed the screen instead, found the file, hit play before I could stop him.