“If the decision were mine,” Jace began. “I’d send her back.”

“Now?”

“As close to now as possible. I’d call Faythe and tell her what happened, then have her send someone to meet us at the border. With Abby. For a friendly handover.”

“Because with the council chair’s daughter in the line of fire, they’re less likely to let things escalate.”

Jace nodded. “Exactly.”

“And if Robyn won’t go?”

“That’s not up to her.”

I sipped from my glass to hide my smile. “Better not let Abby hear you say a woman can’t make her own decisions.”

Jace rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I’m saying. Robyn already made her decision. She made a deal with the council. She has to honor her word. That’s no different than a plea deal would be in the human justice system. For a man or a woman.”

“But the US Department of Justice wouldn’t try to marry her off.” I watched as she took the first bite of her sandwich, leaning with the curve of one well-formed hip against my countertop.

Jace’s gaze narrowed on me, and I jerked my focus from Robyn with more effort than the act should have taken. “Titus, don’t do this.”

“Do what?” But I knew damn well what he meant.

“Do not look at her like that.”

I didn’t even bother trying to stifle the soft growl of warning clawing its way up my throat.

His scowl deepened. “Falling for her will cost you everything you have. Everything we have.”

“Like falling for Abby cost you?” I snapped.

“Exactly. But she and I had somewhere to go. If you lose this territory, that won’t be the case for any of us.”

“It doesn’t have to end like that.”

“You know they’ll fight for her return, and if we fight to keep her, no stray Pride will ever be recognized.”

“They didn’t fight over Abby,” I pointed out.

“Yet.” Something uneasy swept briefly over his expression. “But Abby can’t help them figure out how human women can survive the infection. Or whether or not a female stray’s kids would be shifters,” he adds, and again, the thought of some other man ever touching her made me unreasonably, inexplicably angry. “Robyn represents the future of the US territories, and they’re not going to let her go without a fight.” Jace took a deep breath. “Either she goes to the Prides, or they’ll come in and get her.”

“I know.” He was right. But Robyn was also right. She was a stray, and I’d sworn to fight for the rights and acceptance of strays under my protection. That was the only reason I’d been able to recruit twelve enforcers and command the loyalty of my other Pride members.

That was something I believed in.

Returning Robyn against her will would be a violation of everything I’d sworn to uphold as the first stray Alpha.

But if I kept her, my days as Alpha would be numbered.

I had to send her back.

“Why don’t you let me make the call?” Jace offered. “I’ve known Faythe her whole life.”

“No.” If I let Jace make the call, it would look like he was in charge. My Pride. My decision. My responsibility. “I got it.”

“Fine,” Jace growled. “But if it starts to go south, let me talk to Faythe. She’ll listen to me.”

“It’s not going to go south.” I pulled up Faythe Sanders’s contact information on my phone. “You’re up, Robyn.” I pressed “call,” then tapped the speakerphone button and set the phone on the island. She looked up at me, panic shining in her big blue eyes, and hurriedly swallowed the bite of ham sandwich she’d been chewing. “I’ll start,” I said, as the ringing echoed around my kitchen. “But then it’s all you.”

Static cut into the ringing, then there was a brief silence. “Hello? Titus?” Faythe said.

Robyn sucked in a breath and held it. She looked terrified, but determined.

“Yeah,” I answered as I sank into one of the bar stools. “Are you alone?”

“Um…I can be. One minute.” Hinges squealed over the line, then a door clicked closed. “What’s going on, Titus? We have our hands full here.”

“So do we. I have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“The five-foot-eight, blue-eyed brunette kind of problem.” I glanced at Robyn and found her carefully peeling the crust from the top slice of bread on her sandwich. Watching me nervously. “The kind that sneaks into your car and hitches a ride out of her territory completely without your knowledge.”

“Shit.” Springs groaned softly over the line as Faythe sat. “Robyn?”

“Yes. And let me reiterate that I crossed the border with no idea she was in my car.” My phrasing was careful, but accurate.

Faythe sighed over the static. “Who else knows about this?”

“Just the four of us,” Jace said. “Me, Abby, Titus, and Robyn, of course. And a few of Titus’s enforcers.”

“Robyn’s there now?” Faythe asked, and I could practically hear the frown in her voice. “Is she listening?”

“Yeah,” my uninvited guest spoke up, at last. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rile everyone up. I only—”

“Stop talking, Robyn,” Faythe ordered, and in that instant, despite all the other roles she played in her life, she was all Alpha. So Alpha, in fact, that the hairs on my neck stood up, as I became instinctively affronted by the assertion of her authority in my kitchen. “I’m going to ask some questions, and I want you to answer as succinctly as possible. With no extraneous information.”

Because she’d be obligated to report everything Robyn said to the rest of the council.

“Okay…” Robyn glanced at Abby, who gave her an encouraging nod. Then she looked at me.

I wanted to tell her to relax. That everything would be fine. But I couldn’t figure out how to do that without lying.

“How did you get into Titus’s car?” Faythe asked.

“He left it unlocked.”

“And you knew it was his car?”

“Yes,” Robyn said. “I knew he’d be leaving—”