LOGINThe clothes from earlier are stiff with dried blood but they’re all I have so I pull them on and try not to think about how I look like an extra from a crime scene. When I come out Rhys is fully dressed now in dark jeans and a black t-shirt and he’s on his phone. He ends the call and looks at me. “Kade’s going to escort you down to meet with security, they’ll handle getting rid of the press.” “I want to talk to her.” “Absolutely not—” “She’s my family, I’m not letting security drag her off the property like some random stalker.” I’m already walking toward the door. “I’ll talk to her for two minutes and send her away, problem solved.” He catches my wrist and his grip is firm enough that I have to stop. “She brought cameras, this isn’t a family visit.” “Then I’ll give her thirty seconds and make sure every word I say is boring enough that it won’t make the news.” I pull my wrist free. “You can’t keep me locked up here forever.” “I’m not trying to lock you up—” “Reall
“Not yet.” His hand slides up my thigh under the robe. “I need to make sure you’re ready first.” His hand keeps moving higher until his fingers brush against the edge of my underwear and I actually whimper because I need him to touch me properly more than I need oxygen for my next breath. “Please—” I don’t even know what I’m begging for but I need something. His fingers slip under the fabric and when he touches me I arch off the bed and he makes a satisfied sound against my neck. “You’re so wet already.” “Because you’ve been teasing me for weeks—” It comes out breathless. He lifts his head to look at me and his eyes are pure gold now. “I’m going to take my time with you, I’m going to touch every inch of you until you can’t remember your own name.” His hand slides up under the robe properly and his palm is hot against my stomach as he moves higher, and when his fingers brush the underside of my breast I make a sound I didn’t know I could make. He pushes the robe open an
“You shouldn’t be here,” I say but I don’t move to close the door and we both know that’s the same as an invitation. “I know.” He stays in the doorway with one hand braced against the frame like he needs it to hold himself back. “I just needed to see you, make sure you were actually okay.” I sit down on the edge of the bed because sitting puts some distance between us even though the room isn’t that big. “So you’re engaged.” His whole body goes tense and I watch his jaw clench. “It’s an arrangement that my father made.” “To you maybe, Selene seemed pretty convinced about your bonding ceremony in six weeks.” I pull the robe tighter around myself even though the room isn’t cold. “When were you planning to mention that little detail?” “I was going to end it—” “Before or after you fucked me and sent me away like you offered in your office?” The words taste bitter. “Or were you just going to keep both of us on the hook until you decided which option was more convenient?” “T
Another wolf gets brought in and Judith curses under her breath. “I need you to hold him down, he’s going to try to shift and if he does it’ll rip the stitches.” I move to the new patient who’s thrashing on the bed and there’s a gash across his shoulder that’s so deep I can see the bone underneath and when I try to hold his arms down he nearly throws me off. Judith finishes the last stitch and steps back. “He’ll live, keep him still for another few minutes while the silver clears his system.” At some point I realize she’s letting me actually help instead of just keeping me busy. My hands won’t stop shaking and there’s blood dried under my fingernails and soaked into my clothes up to my elbows and my voice is hoarse from talking nonstop but I can’t stop because these people are hurt and I can actually help instead of being useless. Kade appears next to me at some point and he’s on his phone again speaking that other language and his face is grim and tight and I can’t hear w
I’m pacing the length of the great hall for what has to be the hundredth time and my legs are starting to ache but I can’t make myself sit down because if I stop moving I’m going to lose my mind thinking about what’s happening out there in the dark. Kade’s been on his phone for the past ten minutes speaking rapid-fire what I came to know was Italian and I catch maybe one word in five but his tone tells me everything I need to know, things aren’t going well. He notices me staring and ends the call with a sharp “Capito” before shoving the phone in his pocket. “Italian?” “Yeah the pack has Italian blood in it.” He runs a hand through his hair. That explains Rhys’s facial features and olive complexion I thought to myself. “How many are there?” I ask because I don’t actually care about ancestral history right now. “Rogues I mean, how many?” “Too many.” His expression is grim. “Viktor brought his entire force, this isn’t a skirmish, this is a full assault.” I move back
We follow the crowd inside and I try not to gape at the interior because it’s massive. The ceiling has to be at least thirty feet high with exposed wooden beams and there’s a fireplace against one wall that’s big enough to walk into. Pack members file in and take seats on benches and chairs that line the walls and I’m left standing with everyone staring and I’ve never felt more exposed in my life. Elder Blackwood settles into a high-backed chair at the far end of the hall that looks less like furniture and more like a throne and he studies me with the kind of cold look that makes me want to shrink into myself. “Tell me, human.” The way he says human makes it sound like an insult. “What makes you believe you’re worthy of an Alpha?” “I don’t—” I start but he holds up one hand and I stop talking. “You don’t,” he agrees. “Yet here you stand, having triggered a war responsible for dead in my son’s home, do you even comprehend the magnitude of what you’ve done?” “Viktor wants







