phin

ing resolve. I pushed through the heavy oak doors of the Carlisle estate, the scen

marble floor of the foyer, and headed straight for the

loset, a space larger than my first apartment. Racks of expensive gowns and designer clothes, all

red th

uffel bag. It was a relic from my life before Damien, be

grabbed a pair of worn-in jeans. A stack of plain cotton t-shirts. A thic

n the hallway s

nmistakable. Deliber

nd ice and raw, masculine fury that seepe

st the interior wall with a crack

l in his hunting gear, his boots caked with mud, his jaw tight. His eyes, the co

d together in a

alked to my vanity, the one with the delicate, silver-framed mirror,

at

ct of desecration. A reminder of his

growl, laced with the cold authority he used to command

placed it neatly in the bag. The methodical, mundan

any argument could have. The air crackled with his barely contained

strides, h

familiar, sickening spark of the mate-bond, shot up my arm. It was a current of

all, involunta

stumbled, and he caught me, pulling me flush against his hard body.

ough his lips, the sound a vibration against my skin. He was trying to soothe me, to domi

uld have melted at t

orld, now turned my stomach. The memories of him holding Lilith, of h

ssing them flat against th

I pu

gth I had, a surge of adren

im. He was an Alpha. No one pushed him away. Especially not m

es he had made. I stood tall, my spine a rod of steel, and met his f

eedom. My voice, when it came out, was

a Reje

n the opulent si

se me from this bond

e stunned stillness of a predator that h

e world

g with the solid wood of the wardrobe. The door splintered, a shower of wooden

Reject you?" he snarled, his voice dripping with disbelief and rage. "You have no right. You

you tell yours

truth. You have always been too prou

ecision, meant to cut exactly whe

y equal? It doesn't. You were never warm enough to be Luna. Never charming enough to hold a room. You stan

very

knows how to make them love her. You don't even know how to keep a man interested, Seraphi

ecause I believed him, but because I had on

nside me went qu

umb and looked at the red smear on my skin. "Then

e express

call me

e stayed calm. "Th

jumped in

let another woman wear your jacket, and stood there while your pack celebrated her like she was already your Luna.

that followe

to something uglier. Panic, maybe.

her minute in this house," I shot back, my own vo

y. "You think I will stand before my council

he spectacl

ed at his sid

my eyes. "I have been careful for years. I have been quiet. I have been grateful. I have been obedi

ice d

ng careful, Al

out to grab me again, I could see it in the c

knock

imid rapping

ega servants, too frightened to step inside. "Alpha Damien, forgive me, but

en f

me, his mate, who had just defied him in the most absolute way possible. But

lasted only

have come to your senses by the time I get back,

I said. "She alw

ought he might ignore the servant, ignore Lilith, ignore

ulled at him harder than

room, not even bothering to clo

tsteps fade down the hall. A single drop

cross my face. It was a smile

duffel bag and cal