ra

ir was the color of winter frost, fin

h an expression of

ith the emotional trauma, has caused a sever

was quietly sipping warm

eld her mind," he explained. "It has

ed to form in the

r inner wolf was a creat

asked, my voice

ghed. "But there is another matter. It app

ked a

d me. She rem

ently. "Do you remembe

e touching her lips. "Ye

eath. "Do you re

eft my lips, Aria let

splashing across the blankets, an

she cried, her small body

pressing a cloth steeped in

o conscious recollection of her father. But her wolf remembers the pain. The scent trig

he blood turning

ler continued. "To force the memory upon her would risk

and departed, leaving a pr

o the ragged sound

ill at the G

gone for f

, leaving only a cold void wher

ow his daughter ha

to a new temper. "Gather everything i

hurried

den chest from b

ic trinkets Caleb had besto

gaze falling up

rude wolf carving, whitt

legs, and, deeming it unfit for display,

tch it in her s

it with an expressio

damp earth," Aria sa

ll, determined fi

commanded, her tone an

er gaze flickering

" I said, my vo

bone wolf into t

not sto

And the blunted dagger. Thr

consumed every last ves

hands, her face

roy an Alpha's gifts... it is an act of

ha, my spine str

nging with a terrible finality. "This

the bed and sat b

gravely. "Are you ready to lea

d been so dull, sudde

und my neck, her small

o far away. Just you

e final cataly

ed at

dowry," I commanded. "We

ated to him! Your bond is a s

ooth, unblemished skin on my ne

long," I

to initiate

bond, even if it meant be

the sanction of the highe

ged sound that echoed through the dead of night. By this