Redsand Canyon now who to blame but i for tying these knots so well at my wrists

renard’s gaze didn’t leave donovan’s face. they were, first and foremost, looking for a reaction: it came in the form of a short, soft laugh and then, in his expression, something a little darker.

seeing her fleeing, after all…their old pack had standing orders on the act of betrayal. unfortunate for them that it was renard carrying them out – if they didn’t want to be caught, they wouldn’t. the same couldn’t be said for finley. but donovan was not aion, and in the end, they’d done nothing. let her walk away.

did he wish they’d done otherwise?

“i saw her,” renard said. and here was the thing: whatever they said next…donovan had no choice but to take as the truth, and from finley’s own lips. who would contradict them?

something to keep in mind.

and yet, as it turned out, she’d said quite a lot. so for once, they offered the information without hiding, without goading – they didn't need it.

“i believe her exact words were… ‘i’m not dying to protect an idiot.’” metaphor exempted, of course. that conversation, even if it had been more to the point than the last, still carried the heavy implication that it was not just finley who was unsatisfied with donovan’s rule – not something renard would be offering to him now.