nora

is shadow swallowing the flickering moonlight. The man I had seen convulsing in agony was gone. In his place stood a leader, a predator.

r knees hit the stone floor with a sickening thud, their heads bowed so low their fo

ric to me and back again, her clever mind finally short-circuiting.

lenched into white-knuckled fists at his sides. He forced his head down,

te, ruthless, almost mythical leader of the Northridge Pack. The man who ruled from the shadows, whose face few had ev

gainst my ribs, a w

nt and deliberate. He stopped right in front of me, so close I had to

cheek. The contact was like a spark of electricity, a jolt that shot through my entire body. I

he murmured, his voice a l

ould only stare, my mind a wh

His gaze, now stripped of all warmth, landed on

ho gave you permission to burst into my private retreat? And who," his eyes flickered b

per

nt chamber. It wasn't a questio

face ashen. Julian looked lik

, staring at Cedric. What was h

s a misunderstanding! We had a report... that Eleonora... that Miss Cotton was with a rog

ne deceptively light. "Are you referring to me? Or pe

was possessive, undeniable. A shield and a statement. My body went rigid. I was pressed aga

! I..." Julian was babbling, his Alpha

he threw herself to her knees, not before Cedric, but before me. "Sister, I'm so

nvincing before, was now just

Julian. "Take your... mate," he said, the word dripping

it was an Alpha's Command

hauling her roughly to her feet. She tried to say something, but he shot her a look of pure venom, and she fell silent. He pr

wung shut, plunging us

the frantic beati

ut he didn't step away. The heat of his bo

eating a sliver of distance between us. My eyes searched h

lly him?" I whispe