CIARAVanya had left an hour ago to check the perimeter guards, leaving me alone by the dying embers of the hearth. I sat on the dry furs near the fire, wrapped in a blanket, holding my silver dagger flat across my lap.The heavy iron door swung wide open, slamming hard against the interior wall. Cold rain and wind blasted into the small room, instantly flattening the flames in the fireplace.Hayes stood in the doorway.He was completely drenched, his wet hair plastered to his forehead, his tunic sticking to his broad chest. His boots were covered in black mud, and his skin was pale, shivering violently from hours of standing in the mountain storm. But it was his face that made my hand freeze on the hilt of my dagger.The arrogant, dominant Alpha look he usually wore was completely gone. His golden eyes were bloodshot, rimmed with red, and filled with a raw, agonizing pain that cut straight through the dark room.He didn't speak. He didn't order me back to the keep. He didn't bark a s
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