"Tell me about Wolfe Enterprises," she said to Dax. "Not the public version. What is it actually for you?"
He set down his fork. The question had the quality of something that required genuine consideration.
"It was my grandfather's," he said. "He built it as a vehicle — the pack needed financial stability that didn't depend on territorial rights, which are always contestable. He built the enterprise to create stability that couldn't be contested because it wasn't tied to pack law." He paused. "When he died I took both the pack and the enterprise. I was twenty-three."
"That's very young," Marisol said.
"Yes."
"Were you ready?"
He held her gaze for a moment — the quality of someone being asked a question they don't typically receive and are deciding how to answer honestly.
"No," he s
