Chapter 86

Hael’s P.O.V.

Bowing with a hand extended, the way I’d been taught at the ripe age of seven, I waited for Violet to stop her trembling and accept my offer to dance.

If she didn’t—if she instead rejected my offer as an attempt to embarrass me, I’d likely throw her over my shoulder and cut this entire ridiculous event short. We’d see who was more embarrassed. I, rejected by a single she-wolf in a room full of others who would slit their families’ throats for a speck of my attention, or Violet, dragged from a room of werewolves who would happily watch her kick and scream rather than dare lend a hand?

Her hand fit perfectly in mine. It was small and soft where mine were anything but. There was no denying the dark, devastating pleasure that came when she actually fucking listened for a change. Something about her obedience soothed the monster that was my soul.

I’d been forced to take dance lessons as a child, but it was obvious the same couldn’t be said for Violet. Despite that fact, she f