Chapter 186 Emotion is weakness.

Leo's POV The rhythmic drip of water in the corner of the cell block was the only sound breaking the heavy silence after Max retreated, his posture stiff with unspoken worry. Aurora's cell door was shut, a thick slab of reinforced steel that contained not just a prisoner, but a conundrum. She was an anomaly, a variable I hadn't quite accounted for. Most people, given her circumstances – isolated, starved, exhausted, faced with the overwhelming might of the Alpha's pack – would have buckled by now. But Aurora wasn't most people. I ran a hand over my jaw, the phantom tingle of her spit still a faint memory. Her defiance, her absolute refusal to yield, was both frustrating and, I had to admit, a little… impressive. A twisted sort of respect, perhaps, for the sheer force of will she possessed. But respect wouldn't find Jackson. Only information would. My approach was always pragmatic. Emotion was a weakness, a luxury I couldn't afford when so much was at stake. Max, for all his Alpha stren