“That is unfortunate,” he says.
“She is under my protection,” Sophia insists, stepping between us instinctively despite everything that has happened, “and under the protection of this pack.”
Devin’s gaze slides past her to me, and there is something almost regretful there now. “I warned you this would accelerate.”
Sophia’s voice sharpens. “You will leave. Now.”
For a heartbeat, nothing happens.
Then Devin moves.
It is fast and violent and horribly efficient, and I barely have time to register the blur of motion before his hand drives through Sophia’s chest with a wet, sickening sound that rips the air from my lungs. Her eyes widen in shock rather than pain, her mouth opening as if she might speak, and blood blossoms across the front of her dress in a dark, spreading stain.
“No,” I g
