Chapter 9 · The Name Her Father Left

The question hangs between us like a blade.

Why did your father want to send you to me?

I don't have an answer. Not one that makes sense. Not one that won't get me killed right here in his study with the ledger still open on his desk and my blood smeared across the page that says my entire pack is dead.

Cade's staring at me. Waiting.

I force myself to meet his eyes. "I don't know."

"You don't know." His voice is flat. He doesn't believe me.

"I was eighteen. He didn't exactly sit me down and explain his contingency plans." The words come out sharper than I mean them to. My hand's still bleeding. The thorn scar split open when he grabbed my wrist earlier and now there's a thin red line trailing down to my thumb.

He follows my gaze down. His jaw tightens.

"Sit."

"I'm fine."

"Sit, Sienna."

The name hits different now. Now that he knows. Now that it's not just the fake omega identity I've been wearing for six years.