el

e layers of the night and shadow. For a heartbeat, I felt expos

k receded, and the mask of the fra

" I murmured, my voice a soft, trembling whisper. It wa

the bench. There she was-right where April's cruelty had lef

oth, like stones rolling in a deep river. I

my ribs. How long had he b

rry into my tone. "She felt faint. I brought her

se, full of holes, b

slow, deliberate nod, his amber eyes return

ng in the air be

ipped. He s

lpha." I kept my eyes downcast, lett

the only sound in the silent garden. That limp was his greatest disguise, a cloa

one b

m, "with a passed-out attendant in a secluded corner of th

was toying with me. I

was true enough to be believable but far enoug

ering on my lower lashes, my lower lip trembling just

pril... she wants Alpha Brody's attention s

d have seen a hundred times in the royal court. I deliberately left Hamilto

of something in his eyes. He knew his brothers. He knew their

hint of something-was i

April's attendant. They argued, and... and this happened." I gestured t

But I didn't need him to believe it. I only neede

My entire future hinged on his next move. If he to

stirred, letting

er side, kneeling on the cool grass and ge

o shift his attention. I felt his gaze on m

ing in my scent, which was always faint, not the cloying sweetness of

anomaly.

embered with a jolt, loved

ose me, not yet. He would watch. He would wait. And he