Blackw

d grain. The door slammed shut, the heavy bolt sliding home wit

me. I rose to my feet, calmly brushing the dust from my

wind, echoed directly in my mind. *Elara B

er. Stellan Maris. Th

isbehaving mortal. *You are to wither in the agony of your loss, a tragic footnot

es of my own head. *Is that so? Funny, I

ke... confusion. My reaction wasn't in its script. The

lable authority. *Resistance is futile. Your inner wolf, deprived of her mate, w

of a broken mating bond wasn't a natural law. It was a curse, a piec

o introduce a bug i

de, nestled on a bed of black velvet, was a single moonstone pendant, the size of a robin's egg. It was the token he

irst trace of alarm I had ever heard from it. *To dese

mile touching my lips. *What more can she

e the guards would have overlooked as a mere decoration. I activated it, its surface swirling with mist, and sent a p

moonstone. "I wish to sell this," I said, my voice perfec

opped out of his head. "Lun

"I am. So I expect you'll

ning strike. The Luna was auctioning her sacred bondin

was the desperate, pathetic act of a woman trying to claw back her Alpha's attentio

tellan Maris was practically screaming in my head now. The puppet

ime since this nightmare began, I felt a spark of pure, unadulterated joy. Even Nyx, my wolf

bolt splintering the wood. Miles Gran

name do you think you're doing

g to place his face. "Auction?" I asked, my voice light and airy. "What auction? It'

ke a man trying to punch smoke. He couldn't reason with me. He couldn't punish me

eves you're mad, you are, for the fir

ething other than anger crossed his face-a deep, unsettling chill. He was beginning to re