“Why did you do it?” Asher demanded, his voice rough, barely holding together. “Why did you betray the pack? What did Diana ever do to deserve this, Rafe? To be treated like an enemy by someone she within the pack?”
Rafe stood rigid before him, head bowed, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles had gone white. He couldn’t bring himself to look up.
“You were my beta,” Asher continued, the words tearing out of him now. “My right hand. You stood beside me for years—through battles, through losses, through everything. You are not just my beta, Rafe. You are my best friend.” His voice cracked despite his effort to stay composed. “How could you betray us like this?”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Rafe’s jaw tightened, his lips pressed into a thin, unmoving line. He stared at the
