Uncaged: Treading on the Lycan King’s Tail

Thorn

A

rped oak door of the attic. The wooden frame groaned,

e hallway, sharp enough to cut through glass. "Quit playing dead in ther

all, cracked porcelain pot of r

wer. I didn'

uff, tapped off the excess pale dust agains

ghastly. Dark, mottled bruises circled my throat like a

eath a smooth, immaculate porcelain surface. Then, using my pinky finger, I took a dab of dark carmine paste from an earthen jar

s, tilted my chin, and let a slow, b

D!

y again, the iron bolt sc

that door barred and see if I don't drag the yard guards up here to boot it off its hinges! You think lock

on the plain pine ta

of her boots faded down the corridor.

ly, q

ick, dark hair up from my shoulders. My strokes were deliberate and smooth. With practiced ease, I pi

ng a stray lock behind my ear, when th

n, crashing hard a

, bringing with them a draught of wet rain,

ved monolith in his heavy furs, his jaw clamped shut in stern displeasure. Gliding directly behin

mother's shoulder was

n sapphire ear-drops. Yet the second her eyes landed on me, t

oodstained floorboards, sobbing, begging, or clutchin

ty, an ivory hairpin balanced between my fingers, gl

e disgust. "Painting your face like a cheap court harlot in an attic! Who are you trying to look pretty for,

slowly on my stool, and met her venomous

less, greedy boy who sold his word the instant a louder dowry was waved in his face. Only a starved stray would fight tooth an

oe shrieked, her face t

"Adrian Fenris is the golden heir of the Conclave, bound for the royal court. A man of his stature needs a true, shifted she-wol

ft chuckle rippl

se name once shook the entire empire! He holds vast ancestral vaults and ancient lands. He is merely... resting in seclusion at the Obsidian Fortress to recover from his bat

seclusion. Boundless silver

the dark depths of the Obsidian Fortress for two whole years, howling at shadows, ripping apart his own wardens with bare teeth whenever the fits take him!

neath the earth, slaughtering anyone

us lie lay a cold,

orthern border, they demanded a legitimate Thorne daughter of proud, untainted bloodline to bind th

r dream of tossing their precious, golden-shifte

to keep their favorite safe, while still pocketing the imperial favor and ridding themselves of an embarrassment. But for t

ce cut through the air like

ng his boots firmly on the floorboar

s have already ratified the papers. You will stop your sulking, you will not lock your d

hen at Concetta. T

bubbled up

uld react, I threw my

clear, melodic laugh of unadulterated joy

rigid features. Concetta's jaw dropped slightly. Chloe took an invol

glorious, nobl

own the coarse linen of my skirt, standing tall with my chin held high

fact, I am thrilled to marry him. Why wait three days? Have the ca

e fell over

t me as if the stone benea

other's lace sleeve, her voice trembling with genuine, startled

d silence, "if I am to represent the great Thorne clan as the Lady of

, his voice guarded. "Wh

g poise. "Her apothecary grimoires, the ancestral deed to the Greenwood herb valley, and ten thousand gold sovereigns from her

oncern as her face twisted with pure greed. "That valley produces h

isible chill through the room. "Refuse, and I will walk down those stairs tomorrow morning, find the royal envoy before

pped across the face. Concetta turned paper-white, her manic

es pulsed. He knew I held the knife to their throats; without my silent c

ce trembling with suppressed fury. "You will have your mo

business with you,

Chloe, whose face was complet

the hair at her ear. "Thank you so much for introducing me to such a wonderful match

bling backward until she colli

back on them, I walked across the room towa

y shoulder, my tone coo

for? Get out, and tell the servants to p