re Gu

om was on her, a hundred tiny daggers of pity, scorn, and morbid curiosit

us snake. Her whole body was trembling, a fine, violent tremor

e side, his face a thunderous mask o

snatched a bottle of champagne from a nearby servant's tray. Her hand shook so badly that golden liq

hers. She flinched as if burned. I raised the glass to my lips, to

" I said, m

did what a thousand insult

crash. "This isn't fair!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with hysteria. "You-you cheated! Yo

d. They landed on the open terrace doors, beyond which the man

ting a trembling finger toward the outdoors

gning junior champion, her skill with a bow legendary among our circle. She was trying

xcitement. An Alpha's daughter, raised on pillows and poetry, cou

and a stolen bow. The girl who had learned to shoot not for sport, but for survival-who had brought down deer and rabbits with frozen fingers, who had once killed a rogue wolf with a single arrow to the eye because it was her . In those years

d face, at the desperate hope in her eyes.

," I

rchery range. A palpable buzz of e

ocused arrogance. She picked up her own bow-a magnificent, custom-made yew longbow, inlaid

p. Bu

owd ap

Thwump. Another

ows formed a tight, perfect cluste

venomous smile restored to her

ractice stand and chose the plainest one there-a simple, unadorned training bow with a worn leath

, everything else faded away. The whispers of the crowd, the scent of

the noblewoman vanished, replaced by the unyielding stillness of a predator. My

ele

't just hit the bullseye. It struck the shaft of Britta's

od." A shot

silent. The only sound was

om triumphant to bone-whi

econd arrow.

second ar

third. Dre

, and her pride, lay s

She had taken the one thing she was proud of and b

h against my palm. I turned to face he

u l

w. Britta's eyes rolled back in her head.

ring assembly of the werewolf elite, sh