“Well-remembered, Bhal,” a lilting voice said from the side.

Byron turned and saw Brogan with two paintbrushes that she was wiping on an old painting rag.

“Hello, Brogan.”

Brogan Filtiaran was every inch the dominant werewolf. Tall, strong, with a mess of honey-blond hair, today she was dressed in baggy stonewashed jeans and a sleeveless white T-shirt. But although she was a Filtiaran, she wasn’t part of the pack.

“Brogan, thank you for letting us in. I need your help to find a woman.”

Brogan laughed, walked away from her painting, and put her brushes down. “Byron Debrek doesn’t normally need help with finding women. Have you lost your touch?”

Ah, Brogan still held a grudge.

“Alexis? Bhal? Could you give us a moment?”

“Of course, Principe,” Alexis said.

Alexis and Bhal walked off to look at Brogan’s other pictures.

Byron said, “Brogan, we need to get past this. We were once good friends.”

“Yeah, until you slept with my girlfriend.”

Byron looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. “I didn’t sleep—Well, technically I did, but I didn’t know she was your girlfriend. She never told me, and she pursued me.”

“After all these years, you still expect me to believe that?”

“Yes, I do,” Byron said earnestly. “You’ve known me for a long time. You know I act with honour, especially to my friends.”

“She was my mate,” Brogan said.

“She wasn’t your destined mate if she slept with someone else. She was supposed to be loyal to you. Think about it.”

These were all the arguments she’d wanted to make after she’d discovered that Lucy was with Brogan, but Brogan had shut down, and just left the country.

“I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Lucy.”

“You wouldn’t with someone who would knowingly cheat on you. I swear to you on the blood of my family that I did not know about you two, and you know what the honour of my family blood means to me.”

Brogan looked at Byron attentively. “I suppose that’s true.”

Byron moved closer and patted Brogan on the shoulder. “You know it is, deep down. We were always good friends.”

Brogan must have spotted her wedding ring because she pointed to it. “That’s not a wedding ring, is it?”

Byron smiled. “Yes, I’m blood bonded. My Principessa is…well, we thought a human, but turns out she’s a witch. We had a human wedding, too.”

Brogan held out her hand to invite Byron to shake, and Byron was only too happy to shake hands and make up with her former friend.

“I appreciate you giving me another chance, Brogan. So, what about you? Have you been back to your pack?”

Brogan crossed her arms. “No, I can’t go back.”

“Your brother was at my wedding.”

“How is he?” Brogan asked.