en

my hand tur

at healed almost instantly, but the physical sting w

you need t

d had been tentative, f

te as I gripped the railing. Below me, the sea of guests had parted, cr

roken, weeping wretch my mother ha

ddess bathe

in

in. The silk slit high up her thigh, exposing legs I hadn't touched in years. Her hair was swept up, reveal

was s

small of her back-*my* mate's back. His scent, a cloying mix of sandalwood and oce

IN

ivan's throat out with his teeth. The command had ripped from my thr

't cower. Sh

them. No desperate plea for my affection

a hunger strike, rotting in her room, waiting for me to beg for forgiveness. Bu

e swirling around me like a storm

staircase, intent on dragging her out of that hall and l

ad

ared, looking up at me with wide, doe-like eyes. She was dressed in silver, shimmeri

r fingers stroking the tension in my bicep. "Don't let her ruin your night. Look at her... parad

ing, a balm on a burn, but my eyes kept

llivan," I growled, the

er arm through mine. "Don't give her the satisfaction o

just enough for me to think. If I dragged Aline out screaming, I wo

my hand over Cori's on my arm

their gazes darting between me and the couple in the cent

e again. She was spinning now, the red silk flaring o

he did the

laug

asing the gaunt shadows of her cheeks. It was a smile I hadn't seen in three years.

like a silver dagge

. In his arms

e. The floorboards beneath my boots

leaned in close, her lips brushing

one laced with a pity that made me want to kill something. "It's as if.

on my san

burn this entire pack house to the ground before I