FAZER LOGIN"Sit down, Lena," Ronan Voss said pleasantly. "Your mother and I were just discussing which of you should die first." Lena didn't sit. She stood in front of Naomi's chair with her hands curled into fists, and for once she didn't try to hide how badly they were shaking. "Let her go." "Of course." Ronan smiled. "As soon as we've had a little chat." "I don't chat with kidnappers." "What a charming thing to say." He crossed to the fireplace and poured himself a glass of amber liquid from a crystal decanter. "I'm not a kidnapper, my dear. Your mother walked into my territory on her own two feet. She came to bargain." Lena looked down. "Mom?" Naomi's eyes were wet. "I wanted to end it before the trial. I thought if I offered myself..." "You thought you could trade yourself for me?" "It's what mothers do." "It's what idiots do!" Lena's voice cracked. "He doesn't want you! He wants me!" "Smart girl," Ronan murmured. "Just like your father." "Don't talk about him." "Why not? I kne
"Don't," Kane said. "Whatever you're about to do, don't."Lena was already pulling on her boots. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to try three times to tie the laces."She's my mother.""I know.""She went alone. In the middle of the night. With a button from Corvin's coat stuck to her note.""I know, Lena. We'll find her." He stepped in front of the door. "But not like this.""Then how?""With a plan.""I don't have time for a plan!" Her voice cracked. "Every minute I stand here, she's further away. Move, Kane.""No.""Move!""No." His eyes were gold at the edges, but his voice stayed soft. "Look at me. If you walk out that door, Corvin gets exactly what he wants. A scared girl running into the dark, with no pack and no protection."Lena's chest heaved. She wanted to scream at him, to shove him out of the way, and she hated that some small part of her knew he was right."Then think," she said. "Fast."Victor stepped into the doorway, already dressed in a dark coat. Mrs. Bell s
"Seize her!"Brask moved first. He crossed the room in two strides, a huge hand reaching for Lena's arm. She didn't even have time to scream.Kane was faster. He slammed into Brask's chest and sent him crashing into a bookcase. Claws burst from his fingers, and his eyes burned gold."Touch her again," he snarled, "and I'll tear your arm off.""Kane, stand down!" Victor's voice cracked across the room like thunder.It wasn't just loud. It was heavy, and it pressed on Lena's chest until her knees almost buckled. The guards behind Corvin dropped to one knee. Selene staggered and caught the back of a chair. Even Brask, sprawled among fallen books, lowered his gaze.Kane did not kneel, but his claws slowly curled back into fingers."Thank you," Victor said quietly. He stepped between Lena and the council. "Now. Elder Corvin. You are standing in my home.""I am standing in the home of a pack Alpha who has hidden a condemned bloodline," Corvin said, his smile gone. "That makes it the council
Every muscle in Lena's body screamed at her to run. She had been hunted by this man two nights ago. He had set wolves on her. He had stood in the dark and called her Silver. And now he was standing in her living room, smiling like a guest at a tea party."Have we met?" she heard herself say.The smile widened. "I don't believe so."He's daring me, she realized. He wants me to say it.If she accused him, what would happen? She had no proof. The note was gone, burned in the fireplace that morning on Kane's orders. The only witnesses were wolves who would swear on their lives that he had never left the council hall. And the whole room would see a nineteen-year-old girl accusing a respected elder of attacking her, the same girl who had just been caught in a scandal with the heir.Kane's fingers brushed hers, a tiny warning. Don't."I'm sorry," Lena said sweetly. "You just remind me of someone.""I get that often." Corvin's pale eyes glittered. "I have that kind of face.""Corvin." Victor
"Let go of me! Kane, let go!""Not until we're somewhere quiet."He dragged her through the crowd with one hand locked around her wrist. Phones followed them like cameras at a red carpet. Somebody screamed his name. Somebody else screamed hers, and it was not friendly.Kane kicked open the door of an empty music room, pulled her inside, and slammed it shut. He turned the lock, then dragged a piano bench in front of it for good measure."That," Lena said, shaking, "was the worst moment of my entire life.""I know.""A hundred people filmed it.""I know.""You said mate in front of the purple jackets!""I know, Lena." He pressed both hands against his face and exhaled. "I didn't mean to. I lost control.""Explain it. Right now. And use small words, because I'm about two minutes from a breakdown."He dropped his hands. His eyes were still tinted gold at the edges, and it made him look tired and strangely young. "Every wolf has one person made for them. One mate. We don't choose. The moon
"You buried him?" Lena's voice cracked. "My father is dead?""Not here," Victor said. "Come inside. All of you."The study smelled of old books and woodsmoke. Lena sat stiffly in a leather chair, wrapped in a blanket Mrs. Bell had pushed into her hands. Kane stood by the fireplace with his shoulder freshly bandaged. Theo had been sent home, though he had gone with a look that said he would be back in the morning with questions.Naomi sat on the arm of Lena's chair, gripping her hand like she was afraid she would disappear."His name was Adrian," Victor said quietly. "He was my closest friend."Lena had waited nineteen years to hear that name. Hearing it felt like being hit."Adrian," she repeated. "What was he like?"Naomi's eyes filled. "Brave. Funny. He laughed with his whole body. You have his stubborn chin.""And he died the night I was born.""In a fire," Victor said. "I carried him out myself. It was too late.""The man in the woods said you killed him.""The man in the woods wo







