y grey smear through the attic win

t u

nger. Her gaze flickered to the corner where the soiled mating cloak lay in a crumpled

led, hauling her to her feet.

, through the silent halls, an

two grim monarchs on their thrones. Briar was curled on a sofa nearby, wrapped in a

wn on the desk. The sound cracked

ge. "Because of your... your presence, Briar's spirit nearly

, were filled with disgust. "You are a disgrace to

y pathetic display. A strange sense of calm washed over her. It wa

s quiet, but it cut through their rage like

rage them more than any te

l dawn with the healers. He will not allow her to suffer any longer. He has made his decision," he said, his voic

Elara's chest. A final confirmat

Briar's health," Alden continued, "you

"You will read this statement in front of the elders. You

a Thorne, willingly accept the rejection of Alpha Ryker Blackwood. I release him

confession. An admission of her own unworthi

she saw the excited, trium

he looked at the hateful, ex

left to lose was a person who was finally free. A strange, liberating coldn

ut a slow, satisfying shredding, first in half, then into quarters, then in

was soft, but it held t

face turning a blotchy purple. "Yo

ars of punishment and a lifetime of pain had forged something new in her. He

age they had used to wound her. Her pronu

at stunned them into silence. "*Before any mating ritual-be it a union or a reject

their mouths slightly agape. The sh

-blood of this House, was cast aside by my fated mate without cause and ab

Her voice rose, still in the Ol

consider your 'Rejection Ritua

savoring the fear that was be

of House Thorne, first perform

, where a wolf exposes their throat and neck in total surrender to one they h

valent of askin

re, apoplectic fury. Lyra loo

ile was gone from her face, replaced by a dawning horror