That morsel glided through the room and Lucien sensed both Leah’s and Sonia’s relief, not to mention Callum’s and his own.

“And as his mother,” Mrs. Jin continued, “it is my responsibility to keep him safe. Three nights ago, he was not safe. His mate was not safe. My sons rushed to their brother’s side to offer him aid, and they were not safe. I am an old woman. I cannot do that. But this, meeting with you in an effort to understand what has befallen him, I can do.”

“I understand, Mrs. Jin, and I will say it gives us great relief to hear your loyalty to one of our own,” Gregor replied. “However, we must encourage you to ask your son to come here so we can speak to him personally.”

“You don’t understand, Mr…” She shook her head, appearing unfamiliar with her sudden uncertainty, proving she was a woman who wasn’t often that way. “Gregor. My son is exceptionally protective of his family. He finds you a threat. I can only assume you’re aware of his abilities, and him having these, he feels, even as my other sons are highly skilled and very strong, he’s the only one who can protect us. He’s keeping us safe by not putting himself in harm’s way.”

Lucien studied her, noting she didn’t realize she’d given something away.

Her hybrid was not there, but she was, and they were far more a danger to her, a woman who could not defend herself, than to him, who had proven able to defend himself very well.

He didn’t know she was there.

But Lucien knew, when he found out, he would not be happy.

“We do understand, Mrs. Jin,” Callum put in quietly, cutting into Lucien’s thoughts. “We understand intrinsically. For that is wolf.”

“I’ll ask you to explain,” Mrs. Jin stated, and Lucien felt his stomach tighten.

She had no idea.

Which meant her son had no idea.

Lucien couldn’t imagine not understanding his nature. The idea was abhorrent.

The third of The Three didn’t. He’d lived however long his life was, and considering his maturation it had to be over a century, not knowing.

Fuck.

Callum had realized this too, thus he explained immediately, “The wolf is about his pack. All about his pack. There is nothing more important than their safety and nurture. The werewolf is the same. His”—he dipped his head to his mate—“or her family is all-important. I don’t know how long he’s had his mate, but I can imagine you’ve noticed that this instinct is significantly heightened when it comes to her. This is because she represents the second half to the whole of the family unit. Protection of her is vital. To put it simply, a male wolf lives for that. He will eat, drink, sleep. But he exists for his mate.”