na

from the basalt shadows. He wore no elaborate noble robes-only dark anti-ma

ng down to my bare left hand before his lips curved. "That

urking in the dark to eavesdrop?" I

bones ache to bow. Only high-ranking Warlords or rare Sovereign-rank alphas carried a voice heavy enough to crush water.

pproval. "My name is Atticus. As it happens, I was also stood u

he had ditched him at the altar, he was likely a rough border officer stationed in the Border Marches-the

band-the standard Verdant Ring of a third-tier lesser clan. Yet the suffoc

ing my bone dagger back into its sheath. "Bu

but a long, muscular arm shot out, slic

fusal. "You need a lawful Blood-Oath husband to shake off House Dodson, and I

"Are you proposing to a cast-off woman who just b

her losses without blinking," Atticus said, leaning in slightly until his a

he sensitive scales behind my ears. A involuntary shudder ran down my spine. I jer

pt my voice icy. "A border off

vy basalt military seal engraved with an Aurora

y heavy, and the residual Sovereign pressure hum

ur tail," he said, as casually as if discussing crushing a sea urchin.

na-Crystals mined from the crushing abyssal trenches to keep his failing organs alive. More importantly, I needed a married,

rushing gaze. "But for the next three months,

t hand, palm up, his long fingers ca

startlingly warm in the cold deep water. The instant his fingers

xt month," he said, turning and pulling me back toward

ruggled to match his powerful stroke

mouths shut," he sai

Wellspring spotted Atticus's face. Every single voice choked off instantly, their faces draining