en'

! Ge

bending to grab my arm. I had no stren

the nex

a

tumbling sideways in

lked over to me, bent down, and gripped the back of my neck himself, hauling me u

asked the wrong

what was in thos

s smi

s in the direction of the border. I followed his line of sight and turned

d low by my ear, audible only to

d not

s in

recognition between kindred spirits. "They say he killed his own father, and

the back of my neck like hauling a bag of trash, walking forwa

hrase still circling in m

capacity to feel relief or fear

" Caius said one final thing before we left the forest, his

his wasn

needed a reason, needed some narrative to make w

wasn't tormenting someone for no reason, but

houlder, and strode back toward tha

began t

one thing: Caius's possessiv

, I was locked firmly to his side, unabl

me-because he wouldn't allow it. Not because he cared about me, but because

s constituted some twi

bandoned

decide which room to go to today, no freedom to rest a little longer when sick

surface. I stared at it for a long time,

s more foreign-sunken eye sockets, protruding cheekbones, cracked lips, lusterless hair, lik

that face, m

t are you d

shattering the refl

the basket of unwashed fruit beside me. "Alpha Caius's inauguration ceremony is

ged my hands into the buck

the scabbed-over wounds on my hands that

ground noise for me-always there, but

salt water, washing them carefully, my

long-delayed ina

ets everything he wants, his hatred toward us

't heard in too long finally appe

d into the water. Even after a week,

my wolf ha

ne, I suddenly felt something deep inside stir

," it had said t

ment, I al

?" I had

conds, then only said, "