LEY

forward, throwing herself beside her daughter with a theatrical wail. "My baby! Look wh

with a look of profound irritation, handed Amber's limp form over to them as if s

eyes. "This is a private family matter," he announced to the remaining guests, a clear dismissal.

elt much larger, the

in another life, she had been my mother's friend. Her eyes, as they rested on me, were a comp

s gone far enough. The property will be returned to y

lea to put the lid back on the

ocent in all this!" she insisted, trying to salvage what little she

y picked up her cue. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at me with wide, pleading eyes

desperate, last-ditch effort to

so? Ignorance seems to be your favorite virtue, little sister. But

or instance, your little clandestine meetings. The ones you took to ens

don't know what you're talking a

as beginning to dawn in her eyes. "Not even someone

ped, her maternal ferocity kicking in.

e playing

practiced ease. I brought up a photo and enlarged it. It was

f the city. And with her was a man. A large, hulking figure with a nast

ting at the screen. He d

ew other

register that carried in the still night air. "But his name is one I'm su

with the force o

'The Butcher' was not just any Rogue. He was a notorious pack killer, a m

ous crime. To be caught with Silas Kane... that

"No! It wasn't like that! I... I was just buyi

mber? Something to make an Alpha lose his senses? Something you slipped into his

priceless cocktail of fury and profound humiliation. He hadn't chosen Amber. He had been enchanted, like a fool. And everyone-his father, his mother, the lingering servants, the medics stil

Brenda shrieked, her

a known Rogue. And my maternal family, the Hayes clan, are quite influential on the Council of Elders. I'

lore and alchemy. Their word carried immense weight. An investigation by the Council would be a publi

wasn't bluffing. The risk was too great. T

ad to

at. She looked at me, not as a family friend, but as a

" she said, her voice heavy with resignation.

desperate need to strike back at me, to salvage his ruined pride, warring with the cold knowledge that I held all the cards and he held nothing. His own mother had just surre

osed, but no words came. The woman who had always had a sharp retort for everything, w

t. Completel

feat, a new voice cut through the tension. It was

ough I've missed somethi