st hour was less about punishment and more about nobody being enti

imagined. A real bed. A washbasin. A narrow window too high and too small to climb through, which she'd already tested twice. Whoever had built this place clearly hadn't in

g what happens next," she said, for the third time,

an twenty, with the stiff posture of someone still trying to prove h

id. "I checked. Nobody said 'ignore

he older one beside him elbowed him hard enough to make

repeated. "Wit

ur prot

d him, if you'll recall. Seems like the prote

on the floor beneath the window, arms wrapped around her knees, and let

in a bitter sort of way. Executing an unclaimed she-wolf for trespassing was one thing. Executing your own fated mate, in front of a full court, for trying to kill you the m

his reputation or something closer to her. She hated that some

fore he'd even finished raising his hand. Mira heard the bolt slide back and was on her feet before

she asked. "Bit late for that.

what it was meant to prove. He'd changed out of the court finery into something plainer, and without the crown of authority the room

e to kill yo

at like it's suppos

nformation. Do with

, cheese, something that smelled like roasted meat, still warm enough to

iso

s afternoon and chose not to use it," Darius said. "I don't see

d, not yet, though her stomach disagreed lou

hing she couldn't name. "Because half my council wants you executed by morning," he said finally. "And I f

came out sharp and humorles

orcer in that hall, that you believe I destroyed your pack - which means half of them now suspect exactly what you are, and the other half are simply waiting for me to give the order. I have maybe a day, if I'm generous

im wait for it - not out of cruelty, but bec

t complicated. Kill the man responsible. I never had a face to put to that, not really - just a title. Alpha King." Her voice cracked, and she hated it, hated that it happened in front of him. "And then I finally saw your face on that ridge, and something in me went still, in a way I've never felt before in my life, and I didn't understand what

away. When he did, his voic

y'd land. "I know what the stories say. I know what banner was flying that night, if you even remember that muc

g cold and unsteady opening

ght contradicts the last one." He held her gaze, steady despite the admission costing him something visible. "I'm not telling you this to earn y

tched long enough that Mira c

finally, quieter now. "It doesn't undo

s agreed. "

sistent under her ribs, and hated how much steadier it made her feel even now, even furious, even

ack. "Whatever you decide about me, starvin

d decided to say it. He paused, hand

's so I can watch you myself, learn what you are, decide what threat you actually pose before anyone acts rashly." He glanced back at her, and something in his gol

was supposed to mean - whether it was a threat, a p

slide back into

that some traitorous part of her chest had gone warm at the sound of an unlocked door - as if some p