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“Too much power is never a good thing,” Chase interjected into the long silence, the ex–Enforcement Agent’s voice deep with reflection. “It corrupts even the strongest.”

“Yeah, it does,” Kade agreed. “It corrupted Seth early on. I don’t know when he first started killing humans. It doesn’t really matter now. Eventually, I found out, and I should have stopped him then and there, but I didn’t. Instead I left Alaska. I got the call from Niko that the Order was looking for new recruits, and I couldn’t get out of here fast enough. To save myself from turning into what Seth had become, I ran to Boston and left him to fend for himself”

Tegan eyed him gravely. “That was just last year. Seth was no child then. How long would you have considered him your responsibility?”

“He was my brother,” Kade said, casting a pained look at the corpse of the Rogue that had once been his mirror image. “Seth was a part of me, almost an extension of who I was. I knew he was sick. I should have stayed here to keep him in line. And if he didn’t quit the killing, or if it turned out he couldn’t, then I should have made sure he was stopped for good.”

Tegan’s green eyes narrowed. “It’s no easy thing, to kill a brother, no matter what he’s done. Ask Lucan, he’ll tell you.”

“Is it any easier to break a father’s heart?” Kade scoffed, a bitter sound that grated in his throat. “My father would have expected this of me, not Seth. All his hope and attention has always been pinned on Seth. He’ll be devastated to see him like this. Just as he would have been if I’d exposed Seth’s secret instead of protecting it all this time.”

Tegan grunted. “The truth only gets uglier the longer you try to hold it down.”

“Yeah. I know that now.” Kade’s gaze strayed to Alex, but she had turned away from him. Handing the blanket over to Chase, she strode back to her plane in silence with Luna trotting at her heels. Kade cleared his throat. “I need to take my brother home to his family. That’s where he belongs. But first I want to make sure Alex is all right. Her friend Jenna, too.”

“There’s also the added problem of one dead trooper back in town,” Chase put in.

Kade nodded. “Not to mention several more people on ice after the attacks by the Ancient, and a unit of Staties currently on the way in from Fairbanks to look into those recent killings in the bush.”

“Shit,” Tegan said. He gestured to Chase to cover Seth’s body. “You and Hunter bring him to the plane. And be careful, yeah? Rogue or not, Kade’s brother saved his life today. What Seth did more than likely saved all our asses up here.”

The two warriors nodded in agreement as they carried Seth away. When Kade took a step to follow them, Tegan held him back with a meaningful look.

“Hey,” he said, his voice pitched only for Kade’s ears. “I know something about what you’re dealing with, so you’re not alone. A long time ago, I gave in to a similar wildness, only my drug of choice back then was rage. It nearly killed me. It would have, if Lucan hadn’t pulled me out of it. Now it’s Elise who keeps me grounded. But it’s always there. The beast never fully goes away, but I’m here to tell you that it can be mastered.”

Kade listened, recalling what he’d heard of Tegan’s own struggles, both in the Order’s earliest days in Europe centuries ago, and the more recent events that had brought Tegan and his Breedmate Elise together in the past year.

“I’m not gonna say I’m happy to hear all of this today,” the Gen One said, “but I respect that you trusted us enough to put it out there.”

Kade gave him a short nod. “I owed it to you.”

“Damn straight you did,” Tegan replied. “You need to remember one thing, my man. You lost a brother in Alaska today, but you’re always gonna have family in Boston.”

Kade held the intense gem-green stare. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tegan confirmed, his broad mouth breaking into a brief smile. “Now let’s get the fuck off this frozen rock and go take care of business.”

Alex could not pretend that hearing Kade’s admission hadn’t frightened