d he had the kind of face tha

a locked study with a kitchen girl nobody's ever seen

ndled,"

e testing for weak points. "It smells like a mate bond, which is either the best or the worst thing that'

mo

e right now. I've been your Beta since we were pups. I know what that tone in your voice means, and I know it means you're about to make a decision w

your busines

assessing, and Wren watched something shift behind them, some memory surfacing that he didn't

mo

t smelled that particular combination since I was a boy standing on a hillside watching Duskwood territory burn." His ga

went de

said to Kian, voice tig

t wrong,"

ur study? Half of them still believe your father did the pack a favor putting an end to that mess before the border war got worse. The other half never forgave

s my

n watched Emory's face go through disbelief, horror, and something tha

be serious,"

en more seriou

t now. You know that. I know that. The whole council knows that. If word gets out that you've bonded with a Duskwood survivor instead, on the same night you were supposed to be finalizi

econd she walked into that hall. You know how the bond works. Th

back. "Plenty of wolves ignore the pull. Plenty of Alphas have put dut

m go rigid and immovable in a way that told her more abo

ne of them

harp attention back to Wren, studying her the way a man studie

on't believe for one second that a Duskwood survivor walked into this pack's gathering by acci

wer for her either, which surprise

o make her, not tonight. What matters right now is that nobody outside

uncil finds ou

of a man closing a door on an argument. "In the meantime, she stays under my protect

couldn't quite read, some calculation she suspected had less to do wi

h know," he said slowly, "before

ha

't leave me behind, Kian, not after what happened to my own family the year before. I saw the burn line before anyone put the fires out completely." He paused, and for the first time all night, his voice lost its edge entirely. "Wolf-fire burns hot and fast and clean. W

le body ha

ou saying,"

ugh to ask questions, and I think your father, Kian, spent the rest of his life carrying blame that might not have been entirely his to carry." He looked between them both, grim now, the weight o

fading into the night, and Wren stood frozen between an Alpha she was bonded to against every instinct she

f what you saw,"

with your bond, whatever the council does when they find out, that's the thread we actually need to pull. Because if I'

had gone numb

s," she sa

ng in his expression shifted, wariness giving way

he said, "because I don't think either of