lla

booth of The Gilded Bean, an upscale café three blocks away. My hands shook so violently that the china

ice was firm, lacking its usual playful lilt. "You look like you'

ross the table, Azalea watched me with the intensity of a predator assessing its prey. She

ade of amber, locked onto mine. "That ring. The Blackwood guards.

d hard. "A

"Braydon is unhinged. If you've got yourself mixed up with some dangerous undergrou

hispered, my voice trembling

spoons and the murmur of other patrons seemed to fade into a dull

the words sounding foreig

s turned white. "We signed the papers yesterday. It's a..

r to scream, to flip the table, to accuse me

rt and quickly spiraled into a full-blown, hysterical cackle. She thr

ched across the table and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. "

n't mad?" I ask

've done? Braydon Hyde just threatened the Lycan King's wife. My father isn't just an Alpha,

h a newfound respect. "So, I gu

nds. "It's just a contract, Az. He needed a wife to

"Well, you definitely got that. Nobody touches Dal

as she stared at a point over my shoulder. The air around her sh

ed the telepathic connection of the pack, but

to her irises. She looked at me, her expression

nked me," s

"Is he angry? Did th

ly. "But he didn't ask about the

at her.

orders. He commands. He demands status reports. In twenty-two years, I have never heard him ask a question

erous warmth bloomed i

't afford to be delusional. Hope was

away from hers. "Don't romanticize it. I am an investment. His property was attacked on his ter

ink so. I felt his tone through the link. It

p again to hide the tremor in my lip. "That's all it w

more than Braydon's rage. She thought this was a fairy tale starting. She didn't understand that monsters li

self to the most dange