LOGINHe's driving me mad. Why does this beautiful man dare to torture me like this? I thought he loved me. It feels like he loves me, but it also feels like he might hate me a little, too. Can't he hear my whining breaths? Can't he feel how my body trembles uncontrollably with every teasing, testing touch? His hand works between my legs until I'm breathless, alternating between a steady rhythm of thrusts and dizzying pressure against the tingling, throbbing bud with the heel of his palm."Goddess, Killian! What are you doing to me?!" I pant, arching off the bed as he works another finger into me. "Please!""Shhh, my love. It's alright," he purrs against my lower belly, kissing his way to where his hand torments me. His tongue darts out, flicking against my clit with the perfect amount of force and speed to make my vision white out a moment. "You're almost ready for me. Just a little more."I don't know if I have a little more left in me. It's like I'm barreling toward the edge of a cliff,
I break. What am I supposed to do when a prince, when my mate, begs for me so beautifully? How could I turn him away and deny us both what we are desperate for. Most fated mates never have to wait so long to join together. Most don't wait for the official ceremony and surrender to their desires upfront. That's how strong the bond is, overwriting common sense and decency with a pure, biological need to feel. To be as close as two people can come without physically merging into one. That's what I want. My heart wants it. My wolf wants it. My mind wants it. My body wants him. I want him. The confusion melts away, the conflict with Leon's scent and my complicated feelings for him, it's all fodder. Nothing matters beyond this cabin and the bubble of heat surrounding Killian and me. My mate. My man. I close the distance between our lips, claiming him as he claimed me so many times before. This time, there is no hesitation, no blushing or bashfulness. No shame or secrecy. No fear that so
I'm not a romantic. And this is no time to be romantic. But...I can't stop thinking about what Killian said. It's been two damn days. I should be over this by now. It wasn't anything spectacularly beautiful. He called me perfect as I am. That's it. That's all. See? Nothing special.Perfect. That stupid word echoes through my mind whenever I lose focus on a task for a split second. I hear it in the soft, slightly teasing timbre I've come to expect from His Royal Pain-In-The-Ass. Except, he's not really a pain in the ass. He's endearing and sincere when it counts. He makes me laugh, despite myself. Makes me question things I never noticed before, like the cracks in the ceiling of the hunting cabin. Water damage, I'd assumed, until he pointed out the scratches along the walls, signs of a skirmish."Why do you think that is, hm?" He'd asked. I told him he was thinking too much about unimportant matters because he had nothing better to do than watch the ceiling and heal. He scoffed and sn
Killian fades in and out for hours. Every second his eyes are closed is agony. But when he's awake, he's barely lucid, which is somehow worse. I hate seeing him like this. Weak, dependent, teetering between consciousness and oblivion. Wavering, shuddering breaths ease from his dry, cracked lips and I want to burn the world to ash.Arya is unusually silent. I admit: her silence is more frightening than her rage.I don't know what she's thinking right now. Or what she's planning. But I know Hilltop will likely never see another full moon rise over its territory if she has anything to say about it. I'm inclined to agree.Knowing what they did to Leon was already enough to make me hate them and want them destroyed. Against my better judgment, I tried to temper my rage, spare the innocent, give their fear the benefit of the doubt. But this? This is my mate lying before me, bleeding and injured. Peace is no longer an option.My mind flips through the mental catalog I made when running throug
The guards in front of the cellar door are easy enough to dispatch. I send one through the window and the other? I crush under my heel as Arya shifts into joint control of my body, giving me enough strength to rip the iron door from its hinges. The clatter carries through the hall; no doubt they hear it outside. I've got a few precious minutes before every remaining guard comes barreling down that hallway towards us.Stepping into the cellar dungeon is like walking into a void. No light. No sound. Groping unthinkingly, I use my heightened sense of smell to guide me toward Killian. His scent is faint, buried beneath earth and rust. But I know he's here. I feel him. He's alive. He's waiting for me. He's injured. I need to get to him. Now!My hands search the walls with every step, and I find a switch. Fingers crossed, I flip it, and a row of bare bulbs flicker to life above, lighting the way. I see why they keep it so dark. This place... is evil. Old blood, jagged metal bars, some cells
I am shadows and smoke. Moving in complete silence, I shift around the base of Hilltop's namesake, approaching the territory from the rear. Reconnaissance is 70% of a successful mission. Leon and Marcel taught me that much. I can't go running into Hilltop's defenses, teeth bared and claws out. Whatever weapon they used to disarm Killian and Leon would put a quick end to the rescue mission.No.I need to be quiet. And smart.Good thing I'm both. I stay low, using the cover of darkness and the thick shrubbery surrounding Hilltop's perimeter to conceal my presence. I move with the wind, my movements further concealed by the rustle of the trees in the breeze. Calm. Focused. But make no mistake. I've got murder on my mind.These animals hurt Leon. They hurt Killian. Arya growls, fuming beneath the surface of my skin, ready to strike when I give her the signal.Countless others, too. There's no telling how many people they've killed in the name of their leader's paranoid delusions. It ends
It was a small blessing that my seventeenth moon day fell on one of my days off. I don't think I could have survived Delta Hester's displeasure at me taking the entire day off otherwise. Small mercies found me in those days, and I never forgot to thank the Moon Goddess for the reprieve.Bu
Outside Evangeline's room, I finally breathed again, free from the overwhelming stench of her unnaturally heavy vanilla scent. Just another reason I always left from her presence nauseous and dizzy. It clung to my clothes as I returned to the kitchens, burning in my nose until I had to rush to the
Evangeline Snow was not nearly as unconcerned as her parents.The moment I pushed the cart into her quarters, her gaze landed on me, sharp and unyielding. I lowered my head, shrank in on myself as I had in the Gathering Hall, but it returned the opposite result. Where the pack nobility ignored my h
"Scrub those pots. When you're done with that, you're to serve Alpha Snow and Luna Snow their supper in the Gathering Hall. Lady Evangeline Snow will be taking her supper in her room." Delta Hester's stern voice barked her orders down at me, her voice rough. "Be sure not to spill anything this time







