Chapter 161

“I volunteer,” Phillip says before I can pick a single guard. Finally, he takes a knee, like the rest of the assembled guards, and bows his head. “I pledge my service to you.”

My mouth drops open as panic starts to eat away at my insides. Am I supposed to say something? Is there some kind of incantation or magic I have to perform? Kane looks at me and nods but doesn’t offer any further insight. “Five more,” he says.

A she-wolf who towers out over the men, even on her knees, catches my eyes. I walk up to her and touch her shoulder. “What’s your name?”

“Julia,” she answers.

This is the one Phillip wouldn’t vouch for because she said some troubling things about witches. “How do you feel about witches?”

“In general or as individuals?”

“Both.”

“I think in covens they’re easily manipulated and dangerous to our kind…as individuals, I think they’re redeemable.”

I laugh softly. “Do you want to take the oath?”

“Yes,” she says immediately and looks up. Her wolf’s eyes burn into mine. “My wolf in