Arlene's POV
Warner is perfect. The thought crosses my mind as he pulls his legs up, resting his forearms against them. Those tattoos catch my attention again, bringing back memories of that first night when my fingers traced every line. The memory makes me shift uncomfortably as heat rises in my cheeks.
He tilts his head back toward the moon hanging behind me. When he speaks, his voice carries a weight that makes my chest tight.
Bernard was a monster. The kind that comes with what we are. Alphas represent power, but that man was twisted. Feral wolves lose their humanity and become pure instinct. Eventually, they shift permanently and never return to human form. When they lose their mate, it destroys everything good inside them. Everything that makes them human disappears, and Bernard started preparing me for that fate the moment I first shifted at six years old.
