Thorne

gize t

sharper than any winter wind. They wer

a whisper. It felt like I'd been punched

g. She looked from my face to her father's, her eyes wide with a confusion th

d Amanda, twin smirks of tr

aze. "Ryker," I pleaded, trying to keep my voice steady. "They

Elara. How many times do we have to have this discussion? It's your weakness that inv

wound I didn't even know was there. He wasn't

my lips. "So this is your solution? P

tep into the room, his sheer size and presence dominating the space. He drew on his

u, Elara," he growled, his voice

against their other half unless in the direst of circumstances.

is Alpha'

you. Ap

mind and went straight for my wolf, for the instinct to submit that was bred into our very bones. My knees bu

undisguised glee, waiting for my

ing, forced up from my throat by a power that was not my

, I look

ripping my dress as if it were a lifeline. I saw the raw terror i

ant, something i

years of coldness and neglect. But I would not let my

part of my soul. It was the primal, unyielding power of a mothe

with the strain, the effort a searing pain behind my eyes. I forced

N

it shattered the oppress

genuine shock. He had never been defi

were speechless, the

mand, but my gaze never wavered. I bent down and scooped Cora into my

y fiber of my being. The last ember of that love finally

ice clear and steady. "And this Luna.

ious face, I turned. I walked past him, out of the room that had be

, the pack duties, the condolen

lly pushed