ila

suffocating like a wool blanket. Since the night of the Gala, Jaden a

hidden in my lap, was silent. Charley was still digging, mining the digital depths of Jaden's l

t. His voice was tight, strung with a tension that made the hair

ering against the chin

ing at me. His eyes were bloodshot, rimmed with dark ci

ng ruler of the Blackwood Pack. I had never met him-he had been away expanding pack territories in Euro

e had a deal, Jaden. I stay out of pack politics, and you leave me alone. I'm not

choing like a gunshot. "Do you think I have a ch

ched over to me. The scent of his fear-sour milk and burnt r

scents blood. If I show up alone, he'll start asking questions. He'll dig. And if he digs..." Jaden's voice cracked, panic fracturing his a

rmented me daily was trembling a

ulling away from his f

eriority sliding back into place. "Be ready in twenty minutes

sn't doing this for him. I was doing it to buy time. If Carter Mcclain was as perceptive

opened the velvet-lined jewelry box. I needed my diamond studs-the simple,

, the diamond catchi

for the

ushed against

g the box toward

the box onto the cold marble counter. Necklaces, bracelets, and ring

antically patted the thick carpet, checking under th

sn't

itadel Hotel. The penthouse suite. The tangl

nct clink of metal on the nightstand before.

left i

rring wasn't just a piece of jewelry; it was a breadcrumb. A distinct

he would fly into a rage. Bu

likely a Mcclain associate given he was staying at the Citadel. If he decided t

h into my constricted lungs. It's just an earri

the loss. She didn't care about the diamond; she ca

ting!" Jaden's voice boo

abbed the remaining diamond stud and shoved it deep into the

phire ring Jaden had demanded I wear. I slid it ont

aring back was pale, her eyes wide with a secret

n, and I had left the key to my