ia'

spinning when Cel

trying to understand how I could be bonded to a stranger I had never met. The nex

d. "You planned this. You w

ers hit the elder's table

voice climbing with every word. "Your whole life, you have

and down like I was something she ha

Then undress. Right here. Right now. In front of everyone. Let them see you have nothing hidden under

om wen

s the silence of wolves leaning forward. Watching. Waitin

hands clenched into

undress. I

ve for fifteen years. If I removed it-if they saw what was underneath-they would see the charm. They would see me. And the

plan anything. I did not e

ia

d the word and

ng, eyes bracing for impact. Fifteen years of training. Fifteen years of learning exac

slap nev

t moved faster th

was here-beside me, between me and Celeste's raised hand, his body a wall of black fabric and cold fury. He had

r drained from her face so fast

l not to

he world, and every wolf in the room went still. Not silent-still. The kind of stillness that meant their wolves

oked like a fish dragged onto dry land

raised, palms out, the universal gesture of please don't kill my

hat my Luna und

He did not need to. The words

ate her. In front of ev

e rele

l in my molars, in the roots of my teeth, in the marrow of my bones. The air in the hall thick

hit he

y gave out beneath the weight of his power, and she crumpled to the marb

e. "Please," she choked, her composure cracking for the first time in fifte

words landed like a blade against Vivi

d-and every wolf who met his eyes looked away first. Every single one. The elders. The

ing. He was stating a fact, the way gravity states a fact, the way

alia Ashford is my Luna," he

h. Let it fill the hall l

tion it. No one has the right

ste, still on her k

right to t

ed was heavier than any

broad, solid, unmoving. A wall between me and the entire room. Between me and f

stood between me

n for me. No one had

lived in a storage room and scrubbed pots while the rest

he world from me like I was somet

e in the wall I had built behind my ribs over fift

g down. Later. I would deal with it later. Right

chest. "She is not worthy of you, Alpha. Just look at her. She is hideous. She is poor. She is a nobody

d not loo

and more like a verdict. "The stone and the Moon Goddess chose her. Your training does not

but her eyes were burning. I saw it-the same hate she had fed me spoonful

, measured, correct. Like she was swallowing glass and smiling throu

ue, but Vivienne squeezed her a

d. "Talia is a member of this family. If the Moon Godde

wrapped in silk. I had lived with Vivienne long enough to know that every kind s

en's jaw tightened-just a fraction, just a f

did not

ward, and his voice c

. There is no reason to delay what t

surprised. Others looked pleased. Celeste looked like

wanted to

nd his hand found mine along the way-not grabbing, not pulling. Just finding. His fingers closed around mine, warm and dry and steady, and I f

still arguing with the elder. And Edmund-my father-st

id no

ver said

one said goodbye. An

pink. I had not been outside in days, and I had slowly begun to forget what the sky looked like. It was

walking and tur

y room after the wedd

at him. "

trative. Like he was rescheduling a meeting. "The bond i

I said. "I do no

you. But the Moon Goddess chose us for eac

near the entrance-simple clo

er for the

, Al

did not look back. His footsteps were steady on the stone, his sh

ht, the assigned servant

ngled where his

hare his room. Tonight, I would become something I h

eon

o idea what

dow disappear into the stronghold, with the sunset blee

wo more days until my twentieth birthday. T

question I had been too afraid to ask wa

onded to Kaelen Fr

ned on my eight