ANMELDENSelah's POVThe walk to my new quarters felt endless. My boots made soft sounds against the stone floor, and right beside my ankles, a giant shadow moved in step with me. The beast was so close that its thick fur brushed against my skirt with every stride. It was weird, really. A giant, blood-stained wolf was trotting at my heels like a faithful hound, and I wasn't screaming or running, I wasn't even terrified. After everything that had happened in the last hour, having a deadly animal walk me down the hallway felt like the least insane part of my day, so I just let it.Behind us, Vera's voice carried down the corridor in a sharp, frantic murmur."...did you see the blood, Mira? It was everywhere! Right on the floor! And the way it just sat there looking at her
Garrick's POVI spent the better part of the morning thinking about the sight of that dead guard, wishing I could scrub the entire day clean with it. How close everything had come to falling apart right inside my own home!I was leaning against the edge of my desk, rubbing my thumb against the bridge of my nose, when the doors banged open. Ronan practically flew into the room, his face flushed and his arms moving wildly, and he slammed the doors behind him with enough force to rattle the glass in the windows."THIS IS INSANE!" Ronan barked, marching straight up to my desk without bothering to greet me or wait for me to look at him. A dead guard in her room! Do you have any idea what this looks like?"I let out a slo
GARRICK'S POV"What in the Seven Moons just happened here?"Nobody answered me. I looked around the room. Selah was still crouched against the wall, one hand resting on the beast's head. The beast sat beside her, and he was covered in blood, watching everyone in the room as though daring them to come near her. The dead guard was still on the floor, blood spread across the stones, and everyone was staring at me."What happened?" I asked the room again, but nobody spoke, and my patience was already wearing thin. "I asked a question."I looked at the woman standing near the wall... Cynthia. She was supposed to be at her father's territory. "What are you doing here?" I asked."What am I doing here?" she repeated."Yes." I answered."Hmph!" She folded her arms. "I heard that you brought another woman into your house. I heard it from one of the servants. At first I thought it was a lie, maybe someone had misunderstood something or maybe they were just referring to your niece. But then I he
I hurried back to my room, shutting the door behind me. For a few moments, I simply stood there. Now what? Mira wasn't coming until later to teach me more sign language. My room was already clean, and the clothes I had were arranged. There was nothing to do.I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the window, then at the door, and at the ceiling. This was going to be a very long day.I had barely started wondering how I would survive the next few hours when I heard footsteps. Someone was coming. I sat up expectantly, maybe it was Vera. That made sense, Vera was always appearing without warning, usually with some strange story or question. She could distract me for a few hours before Mira came.The footsteps stopped outside my room, and the door opened. But it was not Vera.The woman standing there was beautiful. Her clothes were elegant and they looked expensive. The fabric flowed around her body, and the jewelry at her neck caught the light. Her posture was straight, her chin lift
SELAH'S POVI woke up thinking about Lord Garrick, and that was the first mistake of the morning. The second was remembering the kiss.I stared at the ceiling for minutes on end, wishing my mind would move on to literally anything else. Maybe what I would have for breakfast, or the stupid crack in the wall near my window. Even the strange sound the pipes made at night would have been better. But no. My mind went straight back to the kiss yesterday, and then, most of all, to the way he had reacted afterward.I groaned and pulled the blanket over my face. Stupid. I was so stupid. How many times did I have to learn the same lesson? Trusting people got me hurt, and trusting men got me killed. It has literally gotten me killed once. I had already made that mistake with Asher. I had loved and trusted him, and believed every word he had given me for three years, and look where that had gotten me. A dagger through the heart. And somehow, after everything, I had allowed myself to start trustin
GARRICK's POVI told myself I was checking on a household matter. That was the reason I gave myself as I walked through the mansion that evening, even though I knew perfectly well there were servants who could handle whatever household matter supposedly needed my attention. I was looking for the Oracle.I found her in her room. She was sitting beside the window, staring outside while the evening wind pushed strands of her wavy, silvery-white hair across her face. I paused at the doorway and watched her, and there was something about seeing her like that that made it difficult to remember what I had originally intended to say.She turned when she heard me, and the moment our eyes met, she sprang to her feet. She looked nervous, and of course she did. I had spent most of my life making people nervous, even without trying. I was one of the most powerful Lords in the country. People lowered their voices when I entered a room, and even other Alphas chose their words carefully around me.I







