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"You are my leader's mate PUT ON YOUR DRESS"

It was strange to see the , Claire pulled the fabric over tender skin "I think we both made our point"

Once certain she was decent, the lare that al a very dangerous game"

Standing her ground, Claire said, "Not everyone is playing a ga to coe"

"You speak it better than you know"

Was that actual praise? "Then speak to me How old were your sons when you lost them?"

The man was not thrown by her sudden shift in the conversation "Bertrand was four; Joseph just under a year"

Claire smoothed her skirt, felt sadness "Why were they killed?"

"My as O "An Alpha wanted her Before I even learned of what had happened, she had been pair-bonded to a friend of Premier Callas The same Alpha who'd murdered our boys"

"What was her name?"

"Rebecca"

So, "And you killed her when Shepherd led you from the Undercroft"

"Yes, alo—at her request"

Claire understood Even after the man had found her and taken her back, his Rebecca would have been gutted by the power of a pair-bond she an to tremble "I am very sorry for what happened to your family, but I don't understand how it led you here to do what you are doing now"

"Every member of this army is here for the same reason I am"

It felt like Shepherd had told her a thousand tie"

"Call it cultural enlightenment"