ius

m, a glass of amber liquid swirling in my hand. The air was thick w

nt nobles, their tongues loosened by alcoho

dly. "A goddess reborn. Since Alpha Vanderbilt clearly has his hands full elsewhere..." He let the insinua

s companion

of my fingers. A low, primal growl rumbled in

d flat. The Alpha command wasn't in my words, but it was in my eyes. The

and suddenly found the pattern

up fell

elds stepped into the circle, his expression mild. "Lady Alys has just re

of loyal propriety. But I saw something else there, a

r excuses and drifted a

my voice low. It wasn't

small cloth. "I was, Alpha. I was nearby when t

in my mind. A detail that had bothered me, a l

d sooner tha

ssage of Alys... water... drowning-I had been moving. I'd been miles away, but my wolf h

f the woods just as Felipe and two guards

kin a deathly blue-white, her lips purple. She was

y own heart pounding with a

d me through the chaos. Her lips moved, forming a

y...m

, a sterile arrangement. We had no emotional connection. For her to call me th

allucination. A dying g

distant, so utterly changed-that whisp

arrowing. "Did she say anythi

. She was extremely weak. Barely breathing. She d

I saw the slightest tightening in the

thing, began to grow into som

d a cold shoulder in the next. The public declaration of independence at the gala. It did

read my thoughts. He put his glasses back

bout Lady Gwendolyn to heart. A woman's pride is a delicate thing. Perhaps her act

le, logical explanation.

of air that wasn't a laugh. It

n Alys's eyes tonight was neither. It was a chilling, absolute indiffere

the liquor burning a

y voice dropping to a dangerous low. I tur

en us for a beat. Then I added, the words tasti

s my f

as I said it, I realized it w

reflection in the dark windowpane showed a man whose calm facade had finally cracked, reve

ery to solve. And