Cassy shot a grateful look in Lino’s direction, even if she knew he wasn’t looking her way. She didn’t want to have to be pushed to do something she wasn’t fully on board with, even if she understood how dire it seemed to be. But Kayden said, “There is no time for her to adjust to it, and you know this. Time is of the essence. You must pick a date that is most suitable for the ceremony.” Lino rubbed his face with his palm and Cassy could feel his weariness. She caught her hand rising to touch his shoulder and she dropped it before he would notice. “I don’t remember you to be this pushy. Kayden It would seem Ayla is rubbing off on you.” Kayden’s ears turned red and he turned away abruptly to hide them. Cassy found herself chuckling at the display. It wasn’t every time you caught the uptight Beta blushing. “Dire times require dire actions,” Kayden started and paused, throwing an annoyed look over his shoulder at a grinning Lino. “And I am not pushy.” Cassy laug

“I made it very clear that she was no longer welcome here!” Lino said, voice rising in frustration. “You told that to our sentries, not to her father. You never told him you didn’t want his daughter here,” Kayden said dropping back in his chair. “I’d think finding his daughter tied to a horse with a message ‘DO NOT RETURN’, was clear enough. For the Goddess’ sake, what am I to do with her? And I will not be sending my men to war on a woman’s word. Or her father. Lives will be lost. Too many. If what Cassy said about Sasha is true, then they must be gathering somewhere. It would be rash to play right into their hands. Surely they must be expecting us to fight them. They are provoking us.” It didn’t make it any better that while he had been tracking Eleanor in the wilds that day, he could have sworn he smelled more of them headed in this direction. What if they had not been trying to confuse Eleanor’s scent? Why try hide Eleanor’s scent if they had planned to betray her

“I don’t know what you mean,” Cassy said, turning away quickly and rushing over to the table that held her book, eager to place enough distance between herself and him. She could not think much when he was around her. Itching to change the subject, she picked up the thick grey book and turned, raising it high for him to see. He frowned, shoving his hands into the pocket of his pants. “What is that?” She bit on her lower lip nervously. “There is something I want to show you, and while I do not want to bother you with more work, I believe it might be important. Possibly a message for you.” His red brow lifted. “A message for me? In the pages for Lunas? I highly doubt that.” She rolled her eyes with a soft groan that had Lino chortling. She pulled out a chair and pointed it at him. “Come sit,” she said without turning to look at him and pulled out another chair and settled in it. He joined her, and she felt rather than saw him lean into to peer into the open book on he

Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and Lino started, completely confused. She turned away from him sharply. “You do not care for me, is that it? I came here, not just to convince you to follow my father’s course. I came here because I was so alone. My brother died!” Lino’s heart sank as he suddenly felt the woman’s grief. He hadn’t asked her about it. He had been too occupied trying to make his mate jealous to understand or be there. “I needed someone to speak to. A friend. We were friends first, before all of the things we went through. Before all of the things you put me through,” she sobbed, and though, Lino very well wanted to tell her he was sure it had been the other way around, he kept still, not speak or interrupting the crying woman. Perhaps, it was her own way of expressing her grief and her pain. She suddenly turned dramatically, and Lino resisted the urge to roll his eyes. She really was a wonderful actress. If she thought she could play this card once mor

He expected that she would act the fool. Like a slave before him. But she would never. She was Eleanor Badminton. She had Alpha blood running through her veins. It made her as close to royalty--even more than the useless Cassy who had suddenly shown up with Alpha blood. Cassy was a fake. She was the real thing. She hailed from a strong line of werewolves. She would never bow to a sorcerer or demean her status by begging for shelter. She was not a lowly Omega, or some useless servant. He might have been mocking her by calling her princess, but that was everything that she was, and so much more. She would take from him like she had taken from everyone else whenever she so wished it. Her mother had always said, "Everything in this world belongs to you, if you so wished to take it for yourself." And she had lived by that code her whole life. She would never beg for a thing. Not when she had the Alpha tone. So she squared her shoulder and raised her chin, reaching