ora

had just chimed midnight when

He brought the chill of the night air in with him, along with the faint, lingering scent of

ably expected, but seated in one of the heavy armchairs near the cold hearth. Surpri

entered. "Y

al jacket and tossing it over the back of

at, devoid of emotion. He wasn't speaking t

poured himself a glass of water, his back to me. He cle

not al

believe leaving your new mate alone in your chambers o

rned slowly, eyes narrowing. He had expected a meek, grateful

nt, Aurora?" he as

ut flinching. "We are allies in this, are we not? An allia

ace. Finally, he gestured to the sofa opposite

said once we were both seated. "It

on," I countered. "I was playi

oken truths. I decided it was time to

our condition,"

seemed to drop twenty degrees. A dangerous, pred

t. A side effect of the silver poisoning from the war." I let the forbidden words

s was his deepest wound, his most guarded secret. For me to not only

ce even, devoid of pity or

aw fury began to recede, replaced

not present the... complication... of a fated mate appearing and deman

about your 'flaw,' Fenton. In fact, for

not as a political problem, but as a player in her own right. The danger in

for knowing that?" he asked, his

only solution. Kill me, and you become a tyrant who murders his mate on their union night to cov

And we bo

d of a general conceding a battle he co

wards the massive be

s allies, we should present a unit

vous leap, but his

out, his voice returning to its commanding to

faces a mixture of awe and terror. They led me

the far side, his back to the center, leaving a vast, em

as a partnership, not a marria

hat was exactl