th

it did nothing to soothe the snarling beast in my chest. I stood at the window of my o

aw was

st night. The straight, unyielding line of h

. It was the mate bond. Even though I'd blocked her, the rejection stung him, a phantom limb aching for a connection I ha

h, ho

blossom a cloying cloud around her. She was wearing one of my shirts, the white linen hanging loose on her small fra

m. "Anya has always been so dramatic. She never understood our bond, Barth. Sh

against my raw nerves like sandpaper. I didn't answe

with a brief, sharp jealousy. She knew. She knew that de

st night," she whispered, her voice laced with manufactured distress. "The pack...they're talking. They're saying she's jealous, th

my brow, a souvenir from my first

It was a threat to the stability

y. My duty as Alpha was to protect the pack, to maintain order and auth

old and hard as granite. This feste

to the entire pack. It was the Alpha's

s. Central squ

ull weight of my authorit

of cold amusement from Anya. She knew. She

wn at the hundreds of pack members gathered in the square. Their faces were

of the fragile human in need of protection. She had changed into a pale pink dr

I saw

red, their contempt a palpable wave. She ignored them all. Her head was held high, her silver hair a stark

't look it. She looked like

d and unbroken, fanned th

er, booming across the square. "I have called you

cked onto hers. "Anya Kent, my fa

mocking laughter wen

er blow, meant to bring her to her knees. "She has tried to drive a wedge between me and her own adoptive sis

readable mask. No tears. No plead

s that would tear our souls apart. The words I ha

tholome

have to,"

e air, silencing the entire square. It was c

t time, I saw an emotion in her viole

as p

use of my full name a deliberate distancing. "Because I,

le

ll over the square. Even the w

. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. I was the

body. It was the bond, tearing. But through my own agony, I felt hers, a thousand times worse. I saw her

ring at me. Their Alpha. P

t howling for his lost mate. He was screaming because she had stole

of my ent

and acidic, bur

had to reclaim some

ht my teeth would crack, I forced the w

pt your r

between us snapped. The wo

finally free. Her face was not one of sha