KNOX'S POV
The truth is that I saw Ember Aragon at a pack gathering in 2016 — a territorial summit Gale dragged her to, a miserable event where she stood at his elbow in a dress that cost more than most people's cars and smiled at people who didn't see her and didn't speak unless spoken to.
I watched her for an entire evening from across the room and wanted her with a violence that shocked me.
The optics are murky.
The line between wanting her because I could save her and wanting her because I could take her was truly a matter of perspective. Not one I cared about at the time.
Optics didn't matter when I'd always had my way.
Optics of a good and noble man imply conscience — both of which I severely lacked, and proved just right when I drove a selfish bargain with her husband.
I
