- THE KI

empty. It was *loaded*-the kind that

rd, his arrogance

you can

t him. Just turned hi

d like someone had

torches seemed to burn lower in def

ty to decide," Kael said, his voice level a

ed into fists. "She

d coldly. "And now she's under my prote

beneath those words. If he pushed, he woul

is attention

r white robe was dusty now. Her hair had come loose from its careful bra

ers, he watched her

g else underneath. Some

s," he said, stepping clo

fted slightly.

wolves would have begged for explanation or

greed. "Yo

rupture that should have destroyed her nervous system. This girl was a puzzle. An anomaly

g ceremony. A political move, nothing more. H

s the pack, his voice ca

Aria Nightshade is no lo

omposure cracked-she finally understood she'd

one last time. "You

," Kael s

o Aria. "You wil

on. A statem

es widene

studied her the way a hunter studies prey

cided to," he

The only answer sh

r expression. Confusion

she said, and there

oment, the gathering ground s

. Close enough that only she could hear hi

pils dilate. Fear and something else-somethin

r," Kael commanded the guards

ack. "I didn't

n't waver. "You

alized this wasn't a negotiation. Wasn't a cho

cing her, not even touching

he sai

water, she stepped forward. Past Liam. Past Selena. Past the entire pac

him, Kael lowe

without collapsing. That's not n

t walking toward the guards

r disappear bet

rned and followed like the rest of the wo

eality. Because that's what happened when the Alpha King decide

g twist in his chest a

bringing Selena. The smart

just let the most important

probably trying to comfor

something that would haunt him: his fat

he'd seen something in

od what that was, it would be