phin

e muddy bank, gasping f

e. The wind sliced through my s

p came from

basket. I could smell the faint, submissive scent

pered, her voice tight wit

low rasp, yet steady. "Fetch a dry cloak from t

quickly a

urned with a heavy, da

nd myself, hiding my wet

hall. Sharp stone arches loomed overhead like the ribs of a great beast

s, polished steel candelabras that gleamed

adows behind a ma

Silas was on his knees. He

King and the Elders on t

ent hall. "The Moon Goddess has shown my blood

fed the air, sensing the firm, domin

nce declared, was a current

t, I grant this union,"

alousy rippled through the un

with pride. She shot a triumphant glar

n down, submitting to th

as a look of such unguarded joy, it seem

ouched my own lip

orridor, but I bumped into someone s

The current Luna

he Pack's anchor, her mind a silent we

dropped into

m the hem of my borrowed hood. She paused, her nostrils flaring almost impercepti

flicker of curiosity in her tone. "Yet you have veiled your

mar the Crown Prince's happiness,

. "You have restraint. The Finance Mini

s, my Luna. The one who provided the lost re

Queen whispered. "What

r, a heavy scent of rai

ridor. His eyes locked ont

the Queen, but his ga

. Suddenly, the air gre

weak. My che

It was a biological dominance that

you a place on the royal ladder, Seraphina," his v

ng his arm. "Leave her be, S

that her clumsiness does

was seen fleeing the lake shore moments before Lady Seraphina was found in this state." The Queen's face turned to ice. "Annelise of House Thorne," she declared, her voice cutting through the hall, "for attempting to harm a fellow wolf during the sac

ed, hiding the col

nd, Alpha," I

aze had planted a seed I could not ignore-she had sensed something beneath my Omega scent, something ancient and wa