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"So I know three other Gwens, one of whom is Ryan’s mother--I can’t stand any of them" Makenna shook her head in distaste "I don’t associate the naood Personally, I think it’s odd that I know several Gwens; it never struck me as a popular naht?"

Because she already knew people by that name? "I have an uncle called Ryan, an old pack randmother’s name was Dawn"

Her eyes widened "Really? Weird, huh?"

"No"

Ryan grunted, see amused, but Makenna just rolled her eyes

At that moment, Zander’s cell phone beeped He fished it out of his pocket and saw that it was a text on Shay won’t stop whining that she wants tohis phone back in his pocket, Zander looked at Bracken "Nick wants us to make a pit stop at our territory so that Shaya canher way, Zander hadn’t thought she’d win this one

Bracken’s brows raised slightly "Well, that’s a surprise Gwen’s not only an outsider, she’s an outsider who happens to be a human that’s currently in the kind of trouble he wouldn’t want on our doorstep"

It made Zander wonder if Derren had contacted Nick with news of Gwen being an infor his word to both Gwen and Cain that he wouldn’t But no, the Beta wouldn’t break a promise He would, however, assure Nick that Gwen could be trusted There was, of course, another possibility

Cutting his gaze to Makenna, Zander said, "I noticed you texting someone earlier Would that have been Nick?"

"No," Makenna denied with a sniff In a quieter voice, she added, "It was Shaya" She shrugged "Roni and Harley too I just wanted theet a lot of shifters co here with one bad story after another Never before has anyone told me that a human went to bat for them It’s natural for most to look the other way and stay out of people’s business That made some suspicious of Gwen’s motives I’m not, and I wanted your pack to know that" She patted Zander’s arht, because the one thing he wouldn’t be able to tolerate was his pack treating Gwen like shit Not just because she was important to him, but because now he knew the truth of just how brave and selfless she actually was The last thing she deserved was their mistrust

Honesty was important to Zander Gwen could have spun hiet him off her back--God knew he’d driven her crazy with his questions--but she hadn’t lied to hiot to him, just as it had that she’d trusted his--his past, his feelings, his goals He’d only shared pieces of himself with Gwen so that she’d share pieces of herself in turn, but that ly let her in And she’d also done the same with him She’d trusted him with the truth of her and her half sister As someone with trust issues, he kne difficult it was to rely on another person not to betray you To him, that trust she’d shown in hiift One he had no intention of abusing

He hoped his pack didn’t put him in a position where he had to defend her to the he was involved with Gas because he’d known even then that he couldn’t obey any order to abandon her while she needed his protection

Zander had always been unwaveringly loyal to his pack But if Nick put him in a position where he had to choose between them or Gwen, Zander couldn’t be sure that he’d choose his packso it seeht and that Zander was in ht What worried Zander was that Derren could also be right in predicting that the scenario could bite him on the ass