Vance'

lt more like a converted storage closet than the chambers of a future Luna. I slammed the door shut and leaned a

e from the outside, throwing me stumbl

e than in the garden. "What other games are you planning to play?" he snarled, stepping

es?" My voice cracked. "Ryker, we are fated mates! The Moon Goddess chose this!" My belief in th

you dare use the Goddess to justify yo

d, unforgiving stone wall. "I don't know anything!" I cried, finding a sliver of courage. "

The same Elders you whined to? The ones you mani

a physical blow. "I didn't! I

ou tell them how you were an orphan, all alone in the world?

ess that had defined my life. But it had been honesty, not a calcula

ad up. His touch was like a brand. "You orchestrated this whole thing.

thed, torn between the instinct to submit to her mate and the agony of his rejection. "No," I wh

adly persuasion. "Go to the Elders. Tell them you made a mistak

anything other than this cold, hard calculation. There was n

art, flared to life. "No," I said, the word clear and st

ed me away. My head cracked against the stone wall wit

ith menace. "You want this position so badly? Then

nd revulsion it made my stomach turn. He yanked

ain," he warned, "it will be much w

that was louder than his shouting, surrounded b