Chapter 78

Ryder strengthened his gaze and straightened his spine. His voice didn’t waver, “The vampires—they have the strength required to protect her.” Brinley gasped. Langdon turned three shades of red. ”They killed three of your pack members, for fuck sake! How could you even suggest she would be safe with them? No! There has to be another way.” Shit. How was I going to explain? I began again carefully, “We have intel to suggest the facts—as they were presented to us—may not have been accurate.” Langdon’s head swiveled to me, his eyes narrowed. He knew there was more I wasn’t telling them. His fist came down on the table next to him, the wood creaking in response, but it didn’t break. “Stop the bullshit! If you know something, now isn’t the time to keep it a secret.” The problem was it wasn’t my secret to tell. I hadn’t told anyone, including Brinley, what happened between Ryder and Aatos. Ryder’s expression pulled tight. He understood I was protecting him. At the same time, he also rec