ong table. Maeve had Ronan on a bench by the hearth with a blanket around him and a bowl of

e had wiped the flour off them, and that made him look more

" he

n after us without a sound, took the one across from me and fol

hy an enforcer of the Council of Alpha

e truth that got me out of this hall alive, and there was no lie th

it from the Council and burned it to the ground. He killed everyone. My parents, my cousins, t

eve's hands had stoppe

know why," A

N

er what a Council enforcer would want with a pac

I have gone over every memory I have of my father, my mother, every word they ever said to me, an

or a long moment. Th

ou think?"

telling the tr

you think of her. I

e me, the way the mate bond pulled at me even now,

y now. A wronged mate, a stolen birthright, something to make us pity her. She has given

w in his throat. "Isl

from his first shift, and the enforcer takes him instead of killing him on the spot? Torin could have

olf had not thought of it that way eit

nd you on your way. If Torin wants your brother, he will follow you whereve

t do you

what the enforcer wants. You will not leave the territory. You will not shift without my leave. You will an

away into something I could not read. I looked at Finn, who was wat

ot just hand me to Tor

w," he said. "And because my son did not draw his

head came up, and for a moment he looked like a boy

r," he

fty-eight years, and I have watched you look at that woman exactly the way a

I could hear the fire c

ale under the champagne blonde of her hair, and her smil

he said. "You

cert

and her sea green eyes were flat. "She is the future Luna of the

he will be treated as one. Finn, you will not mark her, you will not claim her, and you will not spea

was tight.

leeps in the room beside it, and I want a guard at the end of that corridor until further notice. Isla, find out everyth

e stairs and

e smiled her crooked smile and said, "Welcome

the kitchen, and Finn and I were left alone at the l

Torin wants Ronan,

" Finn's voice was quiet. "He is usual

What do

g for three years with a child who should have shifted a year ago, and an enforcer has followed you th

"You think Torin

pushed his chair in. "And I think whatever it is, my fa

watched him go, and then he sto

la

es

be at the end of the corridor." He paused. "If you need to

th the fire burning low, and I counted the exits one more time. Fr

f them got me past the borde