“We’re at their service. We serve them when they need us. And outside of an emergency, they respect us for what we do for them and give us as much freedom as any leader can hope to have.”

I tipped my head to the side. “A different way than Daniel’s father too, no?”

She cast me a look. “Yes. He lost a challenge. Challenges happen rarely, and only with alphas who are terrible to their pack. Who mistreat them or are cruel.”

I thought about that as I stared at a console table where an arrangement of dried flowers was gathered. “We’re fortunate, aren’t we?”

“What makes you say that?” she replied, her tone shocked. Not because she thought we weren’t lucky, but because of how my brain was totally going bibbidi-bobbidi-boo with how I was leaping from topic to topic.

“Because if Choi wanted the sins of the fathers to be borne by the son, we’d be screwed, wouldn’t we?”

Her lips twisted at that. “Screwed isn’t the word.”

“It’s wrong what he wants to do. Daniel’s home is here now,” I informed her, glancing at her to see what she thought of my words.

I trusted Sabina. She was my sister. She’d been my lifeline back when I was young. But she was new to me, and I was still learning this newer version. The one who smiled more freely, who held onto her son as if he could disappear in the blink of an eye—completely understandable after what had happened to Joshua. Who could kiss one man then another and then another, dancing between them as she sought and gave affection to her mates with a freedom that touched me.

So new, different, but still somehow the same.

A breath escaped her. “I’m glad you think that way.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll hold great influence over Choi.”

“Why will I?” I queried, nonplussed by her words. “We were strangers.”

She snorted. “You’re many things, Lara, but strangers aren’t it.”

Squinting at her, I asked, “You sensed the attraction between us?” An attraction I didn’t trust.

Nor did I trust him.

Seeing wasn’t always believing.

Her eyes bugged. “Are you being serious?”

“When have you known me not to be serious?” was all I had to say to that.

“No wonder I’m well adept at handling Ethan and Eli,” she muttered with a slight grin. “That was more than just attraction, Lara. Surely you know that? And anyway, now we’re on the topic of last night, what did you do?”

“With the wolf thing?”

“Yes,” she said dryly. “With the wolf thing.”

“I don’t actually know. It was an experiment.”

“Some experiment. I always knew you were foolish where it came to acting on your instincts, but this isn’t the same world you’re used to. This has more danger than you know—”

“I figured that when I was locked inside my cabin for days on end, thanks to a rampaging hyena person, well, thing,” I retorted gruffly, folding my arms across my chest as I glared at her, not appreciating her holier-than-thou tone. “You never know what you can do until you test things out.”

“There’s testing things out, and then there’s turning into a wolf,” she grumbled. “What if you hadn’t been able to turn back?”

“I knew I could. I leaned on your she-wolf for help.”

“On mine?” Her frown reappeared. “I didn’t feel that. I didn’t feel like you were weakening me in anyway.”

I shrugged. “I’d have continued in that vein, whether you were weakened or not.”

“Gee, thanks.”

While her words were peeved, her eyes twinkled, and I shot her a smile I knew could be defined as cheeky. “You’re welcome. We had to save Daniel, didn’t we? And that’s what happened, didn’t it? He’s still here, in the schoolroom, learning whatever it is young shifters learn—”

“How to multiply?” She smirked at me. “They can shift. They’re not born learning their multiplication tables and what adjectives and nouns are.”

I wafted a hand. “You know what I mean.”

Her smirk faded as she warily asked, “How did you think turning into a wolf would protect him?”

“When I acted, I doubted you’d be weakened. I was borrowing, not stealing. I felt certain the two of us could protect him against anything, and we did, didn’t we?”

“Yes. Except, not with strength.”

I scoffed, “You don’t know that.”

“I do. You could barely walk,” she teased. “Not sure you’d have been ready to defend Daniel’s honor with fang and claw. Anyway, you deflected his attention because he recognized you for what you are, not because you were a silver wolf.”

“What am I to him?” I asked uneasily, not liking the gleam in her eye.

“His mate.”

“His mate?” My nose crinkled. “Hardly.”

“You were. I saw his aura reaching out to you.” She tipped her head to the side. “I saw your aura for the first time yesterday, by the way.”

“You’ve never seen it before?” Now that came as a shock. “In all those years?”

“You know I buried the gift for as long as I could.”

“Some things won’t be buried.”

“No, they won’t,” she agreed. “But never looking someone in the eye goes a long way to helping that.”

“Shifty Sabina,” I taunted, giving her the nickname she’d had wherever we traveled.

“Thanks for the reminder,” she grumbled.

“That’s what sisters are for.”

“Yes, and for being pains in the asses.”

“I take both roles seriously,” was my pious retort.

“I’m sure you do.” She sucked in a breath before she asked, “Lara?” I hummed in the affirmative. “Do you remember the Lindowiczs?”

“Yes. Of course. How could I forget?” I shuddered. “They used to come visit every Thanksgiving and we had to eat with them.”

“You know I was promised to one of them, don’t you?”

“Naturally.” Even though everything about her statement was totally unnatural, the prospect of an arranged marriage to the Lindowiczs had been as normal as night following day in our house.

“Do you know why Father was indebted to them?”

“Because he’d blown everything we had on the Kentucky Derby? I think he used to try to tell us it was some kind of turf war,” I pshawed. “But that was just for street cred, I think. You know he consisted of more pride than hot air, and that’s saying something.

“I’m just glad our trust funds were tied to our being married, otherwise he’d have spent them before we hit ten.” Crap, maybe even eight. Mother’s family had been wealthy, and they’d tied her to father because, as King of the Roma, the leader of our so-called clan, he’d appeared wealthy too.

Thankfully, they’d tied their money up in inheritances for her children or we’d never have seen a cent.

She pulled a face. “I spent mine on medical bills.”