Vael sat in the backseat, one arm draped along the window ledge, his phone cradled in his other hand.
"If you are uncomfortable with the escort arrangement, it's for your safety. The pack has protocols."
"Okay. I understand."
He stared at the last message on his phone from Vessara. His thumb hovered over the screen.
A response so measured, so carefully neutral, that it had been gnawing at him since he'd first read it. He had expected more. Maybe not a complaint, but something that reminded him that she still needed him.
Instead, she had accepted the escorts without argument and continued living in the world he had placed her in.
"You've been staring at that message for far too long." Runn's voice cut through his thoughts, rough and edged with amusement.
The wolf stretched lazily in the back of his mind, a presence that was always there and always watching.
"I haven't been staring," Vael responded, his jaw tightening.
