Thorn

cracked, rattling the thick panes of my study window. I shoved a stack of treaties aside, the parchment scratching

down at the main courtyard. Rain hammered the cobbleston

ed, his anger a hot, coiling thing in my chest. He felt

haps it was a fluke. A trick of the senses.

ape battling the wind and rain. It was a she-wolf, her thin dress plastered to

ee her face, pale and strained, her lips pressed into a thin line of

uldn't make out all their words, but I saw her speak, her voice likely l

e? The thought was a spl

cold, wet air rushed in, carrying the scent of rain

mom

he hall. It wasn't a lingering fragrance on a warrior's tunic; it was the sourc

ribs. My gaze snapped back

sed grunt. *The Omeg

k lore. Mates shared scents. Their auras intertwined until it was difficult to tell one from the other. Of course. This Omega, so thoroughly bonded to her

, the Gamma appeared in the doorway. His face was a mask of irritation

s sharp enough to carry, even over the

me was-flashed a look of hurt across

his back on her and striding into the Packhouse w

her head bowed, looking

at morning began to curdle. That was his mate. A she-wolf bound to him by the Goddess herself,

a low, dangerous vibration. *He

ut the window, the silence of the study pressing in on me. My mind was no longe

s. Why would an Alpha who carried the scent of

rish his own mate... wha