es

nt-lilies and rain-flooded my senses, a potent reminder tha

arled, Min

ck, She's a manipu

dmit-she was a

e that looked protective, possessive. It was a declaration. Not for her s

the pathetic, terrified faces of the C

low, dangerous rumble, "has

o have a heart attack. "A misunderstanding,

h agape, her face a ma

me," she whimpered, her voice muffled against my chest. "They wouldn't

the cowering form of Kevin Mille

ore, too much about the circumstances that had led Chloe to my cave. If he opened his mou

subtle, almost i

rward and hauled Kevin up by the front of his shir

der my gaze, a pathetic sce

's ear. "Interesting performance," I murmured

n through her, but

all of her back. I addressed the crowd, my voice ringing with autho

e ran into some trouble. She was exceptionally brave

l decree. A f

aimed, her voice suddenly stronger. "My emerald heirloom necklace is

rewriting the narrative entirely. If Kevin was a thief, then everything he said wa

us. And entirel

eful. She was also a risk. I would need

n. "The necklace," I said, my voic

uestion. It w

p back. I saw the calculation in her face too-the realization that if Kevin implicated her, she

rumbled. Despair wa

ed my will, the pure, crushing pressure of my Alpha power,

ned a dusky purple. He clawed at his coll

rgling sound es

is body convulsed once, a violent, snappi

ozed from his nose. Then his ear

e hit the gravel with

e

reamed-Ilene's scream pitched higher than her mother's, edged wit

way, broken only by the chirping of birds

up, every muscle frozen. She stared at the corpse-at the blood still p

w kind of fear. A more intelligent kind. She was n

o

die. I reached up and caught her chin between my thumb and forefinger-gen

at only she could hear. "Don't. You wanted to