phin

gathering storm, flickered from the shattered vial on the floor to my face, then back again. The air

ation, a flurry of motion and sound erupted f

e Genevieve usually held court after lunch. Isabella had not run far. She had run straight

ck into the conservatory. She wasn't alone. She was dragging her mo

c, trembling finger at me. "I brought her a gift! A precious fertility po

"Son, this has gone too far," she said, her voice resonating with practiced authority. "Her beha

brow raised. I watched the performance with the detached curiosity of a theatre critic. I

d on me. His Alpha senses, far more acute than a human's, were taking in the scene. The chemical smell. Th

w tigh

d, and his gaze, now sharp and lethal as a

soft. "If it was such a precious gift, Isa

ust have done something to it! It's her fault!" she s

rated through the very glass of the conservatory. Isabel

unregistered substances in this household is not a game. It is a crime.

uth to intervene. "Now,

cold fire I had never seen him direct at his mother

as about to be sick. Genevieve looked at her son as if h

, he tur

A possessive, protective gleam. He expected me to be grat

ing to pull me into his arms, to shield me from the fam

deliberate

hanging in the emp

lief. She would have fallen into his arms

otecting his property. His authority had been challenged in his own home, and

t and cold. The single word w

sion warring with his

ly, sharp with a clarity that felt like cruelty. "You defende

a 'fertility potion'." I let my eyes trail down his body in a delibe

absolute. It was a sound so pr

nt of his mother and sister. It was the ultimate insul

performance collapsed at once, her eyes darting between her brother and me with naked pa

temple. The air around him grew so cold I could practically see it crystal

low, terrifying vibration. "Y

nching. "Then sign the papers. Reject me.

s, the air crackling between us. The power

e stare. I was done

ook that said he was pathetic

conservatory, leaving the wreckage of their family drama be

I am not their