Lorien POV

Had those hands, the same ones now cradling my face so gently, really just taken a life?

“Lorien,” he murmured again, the edge in his voice softened to a quiet breath. I forced myself to meet his eyes. “Can you do this?”

His words were a whisper meant only for me, slipping beneath the hum of the pack gathered around us. My throat felt tight, but I nodded anyway. What choice did I have?

“Good.”

The sound of approaching footsteps pulled my gaze past his shoulder ...