Nightw

e loyal hounds. The scent of celebratory ale rolled off them

e. "Elara, what is this?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. It was the Alpha comma

ur to him that something might be seriously wrong. In thirteen years, he had

to another night, another duty. Our Mating. There had been no passion, no tenderness. It was a cold, clinical act to seal the

pack politics until my head ached. I forced myself to socialize with the other Alphas' mates, mimicking their confidence, their easy laught

tried to reshape it into a m

is face. He spent more and more nights away, training or "o

bs than in our alliances," he'd once s

litical power, no valuable family connections. Each casual, cruel

d into our lives. Their flirtation was an open secret, a humiliation I was expected to endure with quiet dignity. The day I

ker of the original me. And from that day on, I stop

man standing before me. There was nothing left inside me

o notice the scroll. He stepped forward, his eyes scanni

, his voice tight. "

e. His golden eyes scanned the heading, and the arrogant smirk on his face

of Rej

urious roar, a wave of pure possessive rage that slammed into me through the M

had built a wall of ice around my heart,

voice was dangerously low, vibrating wi

step forward, toward the table. I raised my ha

d, my voice clear and steady, using

ond is