Vance'

ung in the silent air. The crowd watched, expecting m

were

esolute calm. The world seemed to slow down, the murmuring crowd and the rustling leaves fading into a

ispered, her voice not a hot roar

. Then another. My ey

f unease crossed his features. He took an involuntary half-step back b

" Seraphina whined, clutchin

e I could see the faint stubble on his jaw,

hen I

whipcrack in the st

attered love into it. My hand connected with his

ide. Five perfect, red finger

Omega. I had just struck a powerful warrior,

steady as stone. "That was for the Moon Goddess," I said, my vo

, not of weakness, but of a hea

ar on your mother's soul, Ryker! Swear t

th was one of the most sacred, most binding acts in o

m more. He was momentarily speechless, his perfec

o publicly, crashed over him. His face contorted, the carefully crafted

d, shoving Seraphina

his hands reachi

h shouted, moving to in

aside as if he were a fly. I tried to scr

d my upper arm like a vice. He twisted, intend

ck* echoed in th

my shoulder down to my fingertips. A screa

le. Dislocated. The pain was so intense it sto

f warriors, this was too much. To so brutally injure a she-wol

ock at what he'd done. He hadn't meant to injure me

ed, doubling down on his cruelty to cover his

and the core of iron will within me, refused to let me break. I bit

ad and met his furious gaze with one of my own,