lle's

per of luxury, revealing the face I had

a's welcome. His scent wrapped around me, cedar and wintergreen, so

, littl

umbled into the leather seats, my body movin

h

a pup seeking solace after a storm. His hand settled between my sh

es over my spine, the way he'd done when I'

ng through my bones. The tears came then-silent, shudderin

d out, the words scraping

dy weight of his palm and a truth that settled lik

ng scent of that other pack-of him. When I finally sat up, leaving my grief smea

l be

the back of my hand. "Thank yo

rate calm. "Let's just say they'll survive the scandal of their Alpha

flea-ridden outpost rather than one of the strongest southe

o

London and Tokyo answering to the same ancient bloodline that had once ruled from wolfskin thrones. And Cyric Feymere, my brother, heir t

the weight of a thousand unspoke

musk of home-vetiver and snowmelt, so different from Sunlight Ridg

king at my sleeve. "For the p

ook three calls." A wolf's smile-all teeth. "The moment you mentioned Thessal

chest. Three years. Three years of isolatio

howls

ur Alpha father's full moon ritual-a lam

g my face in his shoulder. "You warn

brotherly care. "You walked into that fire to prove it wou

is lapel. "Turns out fire

ough me. "Calden Ashmoor n

under my eyes, the scars no one could see. "Sunlight Ridge wil

nt wardstones recognized their lost daughter. Cyric pressed his forehead to

ome, Zarel

*

den'

h the acrid tang of antiseptic and Thessaly's rose perfume. I strode from her privat

risis. Feigne

sult. Three years. Three godsdamned years of emergency transfusions,

burned in

er you've dialed

the plastic creak. When the automated voice repeated i

o

hospital. From the

nce frayed at the edges. "No sign of her, Alpha. Securi

never gone anywhere alone-not since the pact bound h

throat before I could temper it. "Ever

h

nothing but a contractual obligation? We'd never completed the mating bond. She

council will question d

hrough my gums, the taste o

to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. My reflection s

le St

The quiet shadow who appeared when summoned, who endured my coldness without compl

she wa

er scent faded from my territory, and

, my dress shoes striking the

ldrin call

he enforcers. Activate

at gro

met his gaze over my shoulder, l

s that she too