te Coo

elude me long after the capital had surrendered to absolute dark. It was the eve of the Royal Moon Banquet. Remembering that I had left a volume of Citadel noble rosters in the side p

lonnade winding back toward the eastern courtyards, stepping quie

, haughty voice of my eldest aunt, Agnes, drifted down from the s

r hair. "Our Daphne requires no scrutiny; every step she takes carries the regal poise of a highborn Luna I molded myself. Bianca from the Second Household possesses not a fraction of Daphne's bearing, but she is passable enough to avoid bringing disgrace upo

my lips to caution Nora, melting into the

he First Household-spoke with an abstracted murmur, as though

"Collette merely dislikes the clamor of the court, though her formal manners are beyond reproach. As

rlords and the crown's fiercest ministers! A single misstep will drag the Cooley name into ruin! In my judgment, it

ginald countered, a note of rebuke entering his deep voice. "Tend to her with

e floor toward his desk. "I speak of the clan's survival, yet you barely listen.

solid oak table, his voice trembling with uncontainable fervor. "A g

the icy corridor as Reginald's w

scurity for three years," Reginald declared, his tone breathless with awe. "A lowborn scrivener with no noble pack duke to champion his lineage, so I n

fingernails drove into my

the northern garrisons and the precise maneuvering of the Frostwolf cavalry surpass the wisdom of the High Cou

nd, an icy tremor seized my throat

Frontier Defe

was a diamond in the rough-a brilliant strategist unjustly held back by his humble blood. Blinded by his gentle smiles and poisoned vows of devotion, I had knelt in the drivi

my cheek with a poisoned silver blade, leaving an indelible scar to cripple my wolf and shatter my pride. At the time, when the entire capital sn

ow had he repaid me? Once his talons were firmly planted in the High Ministry, he swallowed my dowry,

was a viper steeped in patience

why

ly after our wedding during the bloody outbreak of the Redstone border rebellion! Why had th

hy work yourself into such a state, My Lord? Without high blood or gold in this predator-fille

insisted. "Who knew such an unbonded clerk

er the bedchamber before Agnes bro

rcely, why not secure him by tying

el of the First Household, destined for a royal prince or a param

all, Collette is nothing more than a tainted stray carrying the blood of an exiled court mistress. Even shelter beneath Gerda's trade-gold cannot wash away the stain in her marrow. For her to dream

ing that he was already weighing the immense profit of using my marriage to shackle a bril

amber candlelight flickering across the leaded panes,

ed. The timeline ha

kless gamble to break hi

an impossibility f

d his way back from