The Alpha's Abandoned Mate
he said, not to her, to the room.
The fire obeyed that voice in a way that made three servants cross themselves. It sank from shouting to low talk. The last tapestry slumped to the floor with a sulky hiss. Smoke moved in stately columns toward the windows. The clerk pressed his fist to his mouth and began to weep in the bleak, steady way of men who have no idea what they almost did.
Silence took the hall, shaken and bright-edged.
Kane lowered his hands. He had lost the ending of his speech. He hunted for it and failed. “The vote, ” he began, and then stopped. His beard smelled faintly of singed pride.