Chapter 15 · The Crash Was No Accident

Darius shoved his phone in his pocket and grabbed my wrist. "We're leaving. Now."

Kyle was already at the window, checking the street. "Two cars pulling up from the east. Another from the south."

"They're not here yet." Darius pulled me toward the back door. "We've got maybe three minutes."

Vivienne laughed. She was still on her knees, but she didn't look beaten. She looked like she'd already won. "Run all you want, Cain. Every alpha in the city just got that photo. They know what she is. They know where you are. And they know you can't protect her."

I yanked my hand free. "I'm not running until someone tells me what the hell I just did."

Darius turned. His eyes were still gold, and the look on his face made my stomach drop. "You gave them an order. A royal order. That's what the old bloodlines can do—they can make any wolf obey. No choice. No resistance. Just submission."

"I didn't—" I stopped. Because I had. I'd felt it. That pull, that pressure, like something inside me had cracked open and poured out. "I didn't know I could do that."

"Your mother knew." Vivienne's voice was soft now.