nor

e vibrating through the floorboards wasn't just a sound; it was a physical weight pre

speak, the Dowager Lun

tepped out of the shadows, her posture rigid with indignation. "The Lycan King is the ruler of our kind.

ration, Dowager Luna?" I interrupted, m

ed into dangerous slits, but she didn't have

the cliff. "Your heir broke the pact. He abandoned me at the altar for a human. Will the mighty Black

eavy and damning. Whispers erupte

werewolf elite. A complex emotion-a flash of fury mixed with a begrudging, microscopic glint of respect-crossed her anci

ackwood s

ocking out the fractured light from the stained glass. He moved with the terrifying, silent grace of an apex predator, his dark suit impeccably

me. I had to tilt my head

subterranean rumble, devoid of warmth but vibrating with a dark, pos

ingernails so hard into my palms that the sharp sting of broken skin grounded me.

ed, my voice trembling just enough to betray my terror, b

r. "The Blackwoods honor their

a thin, bloodless line, but

g brighter, analyzing every inch of my pale face. He was se

lk away," he warned softly, the

ng away," I wh

ag me out. Instead, he extended his arm toward me. The fabric of his suit pulled taut o

waiting," Kaelen commanded, his vo

us toward the glowing moonstone altar, the crushing reality of what I had just done settled over me like a shroud. I had esca