itr

nd hollow condolences, but my mind was miles away

seed of madness in my brain. Murder. My father had be

to the amber liquid, forcing my mind back to the night before I woke

, Dim

ather's private quarters. The fire crac

ut firm. "It is holy water from the Moon Goddess's s

n't been proud. They

o my palm, but I didn't feel it. He had drugged me. My own father h

ced restlessly in the back of m

," I

ded p

rief. The door to my father's study was sealed with the Elders' yello

pped the tape and k

ickness that took him. I tore through his desk, tossing papers aside, until my fingers

y a single scroll made of ancient beast

, and the air

onding C

ing the union of Dimitri Barrett and Anais Moreno. And there, at the bottom, was the

oice trembling with a rage so cold it felt like ice. "Y

finger-the one I couldn't take off. I

parchment, intending to shred it, to burn i

ri Barret

ing white light, burning my fingertips. Runes of the Moon

d in my mind. Irrevocable for

t hit the wall and rolled shut, mocki

nd, I would break the pers

ected the order through the Mind-Link, my voice

cold, smelling of

gation cell. She looked small, pathetic in the harsh light of the

n the room dropped. My Lycan aura flo

squeaked, her eye

a low whine.

st down. "That i

r skin was soft, and a spark of electricity-that damned mate bond-zapp

ting the Alpha's Command lace my voice. I

er. She tried to pull away, tears spilling over her ch

me to you with a contract that predates our meeting. You expect me to believe a wo

don't remember anything! I was with my fri

I tightened my

" she choked out. "Plea

ead, clawing at my sk

urning me. She slumped back aga

ever seen, or she was truly a pawn. But

n her, walking tow

memory returns," I th

please!" s

r voice, but not her scent. It clung to

y phone and di

he stone wall. "Bring them to me. If she won't tal