ne's

to know with my husband, and the cold stone ground gnawed at my festival dress li

ond, closed in. A chant had begun – "Justice for Marcus" – and soon the ot

kind, who'd embraced me this

rival. Wine-stained gray beard and cold anger-filled eyes spoke of one who had lost someone prec

ger courteous. No longer "Luna." No

e I'd sat, attempting to maintain some

ou find the

I use it for medicine, sparingly. It reliev

face twisted in outrage. "How many other ind

of course. Maybe a few others who'v

Beta

me handling it a couple of times. Bu

chment. "Explain your relat

even as I tried to be strong. "He treated me kindly when ot

erhaps you tired of being the second choice? The

is not

records of fights between you and Marcus. Witn

th other pack scouts in the neighborhood, getting drunk, sleeping till

eatenin

threate

that you warned him that he'd

old as shattered glass. "T

as they were twisting them. Marcus had been drunk, babbling about infiltrati

upidity," I panted. "I was f

usiness?" Morrison questioned. "Sick of him que

me appear weak. H

the trade agreement with the Silver Moon Pack? Marcus openly disagree

rder in our bargaining, and I'd insisted on a sof

t happens. It isn't an indic

an't keep her own relatives in line is a Luna wh

Every quarrel was proof of some grudge. Every explosion of anger was proof of

d, rising to leave. "But I imagine we all

s. How had it gone so terribly wrong so fast? Today I had been a respected

a tray of water and food in his hands and deposited them just o

hungry," he muttered,

m n

You'll need your

. And what happene

inscrutable. "I want you to know this pains

ade mi

if Corwin was so besotted by

nfusion entwined with my

g without council approval. That business with the rogue wolves la

fending o

able of being Luna when you were born of common stock." Kane

ng harder in recent months to prove myself. The rumors about my bloodlines had

inued. "That was going

n't ki

just staring at me with those frigid blue eyes. W

believ

o me like a body punc

rwise." He leaned in closer to the bars. "You've been under an awful lot of pressure yourself lately.

member kill

. Our brains have a tendency to shield us

ere were nights that I had not slept, walking up and down on our bedchamber floor while Corwi

ing to make me

t occurred. So that you can

for something t

ot lies, Selene. And I believe

I'll intercede on your behalf tomorrow. Plead for mercy. A swift

d laws. Traitors weren't just killed – they were made examples of. Tortured. Hung on

did this. if somehow I killed Marcus and don't even

could have been pity. "Because you're human, Selene.

out. The evidence was too great. The witnesses were credible.

little off. Something

face. The pain-dulled expression in his eyes. The confusion that he'd looked at me with instea

estival was treated holy by our pack. To kill Marcus

idea. Unless someone wanted

king. What if I was innocent after all? What if someone had orchestrated it all,

e that much to ruin my

on the stairs reverberated through the castle. The heavy boots. S

er chains – we don't want her

e pyre

trial, but the pack's getting

t blame them. To kill the princ

reasing horror that they were not to take me i

, their faces set in determination. I knew them all – men

in the back of my cell.

r of my family for years, would not look at

n woul

ce delayed is justice denied

d. The handcuffs were cold and heavy, meant to dampen the strength of a we

I recognized in the gloom at the top of the step

scue me. He c

pierced all my confusion and uncerta

proof, the witnesses, even my own s

usband's closest fri

ore they could make me shut up for good. But Kane pulled out hi

as winter as he placed

lame him, and he'd make death e