a P

he wet pavement. Damien was already out of the car, waiting for me on the sidewalk

till-damp clothes clung to my skin, making me shiver violently. Without a wor

e warmth from his body still clung to the fabric, a comforting heat that seepe

. Drivers who worked late routes through Pack territory sometimes used it to keep aggressive wolves from reading too much from them. I ha

counter. The Marriage Application came with a thin gray attachment stamped Pack Registry Addendum. Civil st

so officia

line, my signature required to seal this insane pact. Suddenly, a larg

ble, but his dark eyes held a flicker of somet

ath and signed my

black ink, small and humiliating, like an official confirmati

e, the kind of impatient scrawl a man used when he had signed too many receipts at gas

scared me. Rogues were supposed to be unstable, dangerous, outside the protection of any Pack law. But compared to being handed ov

d slid two copies of the marriage certificate back to us. "Congratulatio

. Aura Montgomery. It felt like a dream, a

ck smartphone from his pocket, the rubber case worn at the corners and

to me as he answered. His voice was low, b

pped. A pause.

tension radiating from him. He was li

d someone else for your business deal." Another pause, longer this time. A humorless, sharp laugh cut through the

dling over Sunday dinner. In Pack language, elders meant bloo

phone back into his pocket. He turned and walked b

he said, his voice clippe

had to meet his family? I clutched the marriage certificate tighter, the paper cri

hispered, m

r was now parked at the curb, sleek and low and expensive. It wasn't th

. What kind of Uber driver's fath

belonged to some boss or client or rich uncle who needed favors at midnight. People borrowed things. People

he same dark hair as Damien, threaded with silver at the temples, and the same intense, pierci

sed to being obeyed before they ever raised their voice

k under its weight. It was like being examined under

ning himself slightly in front of

stance, a brief flash of surprise in their depths befor

a predator's grace. He looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on my cheap, rai

ry now, wasn't I? I extended a hand. "Hello, sir.

said, his voice a low growl of command, "you will live tog

ought this was just a paper transaction, a business deal. We

nd absolute. "And if your pack challenges the claim, separate households will make your ma

imed

s mate. I was wolfless, and this was only a legal shield. But the wa

m, charged with unspoken meaning. It felt less like a father's warning and more like an old Pack command, the kind that expected obe

"He has a point," he said, his voice low. "Living together will make

er, knowing I was living with my new husband... they would have

p, then nod

three days to move in," he commanded, before turning on h

ay, its taillights disa

suddenly feeling as heavy as a block of concrete. I had escaped on