~Lucian~

I couldn't sleep.

I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling as dawn light crept through the curtains, and all I could see was Rose's face. The terror in her eyes. The blood on my hands. The shocked silence of the entire pack as they watched their Alpha nearly beat an elderly woman to death.

What the hell had I become?

'You became what was necessary,' Zair's voice rumbled in my mind, but even he sounded uncertain. 'She challenged us. We had to respond.'

"By almost killing her?" I ...