a P

rst thing I registered. The second was

ud and damp leaves. I

adow Plague, the centuries-old torment that gnawed at my soul, was still t

been forced into silence, as if something

d years, the constant, agonizi

Ki

m the trees, his men appearing silently behind him. The

re unh

f my authority settling back on my shoul

" I asked, my v

t and energy vanished near the river, and the plague disrupted the tracking link. Then they reappeared, weakened, on the opposite bank. We

ouched me had carried a trace of my energy away with her

and crushed mint, clean and sharp. She had touched me. She had dra

me. And she had

r that hadn't been there moments before. "A woman wit

. "A White Wolf? My King, the

y going to the back of my neck where a new ache wa

en

poison had stopped spreading, but the damage remained: a fever, two cracked ribs, and a right h

went to work. Revenge. I needed it, but I co

hing I had ever felt. If his men were searching for me, he was either important enoug

n came the subtle scrape of boots against dead lea

ughts, the cabin door wa

ll the air from the room. His eyes, the color of molten gold, pinned me

was

hidden in my sleeve. My f

threat. He stopped a few feet away, his ga

a deep rumble that vibrated in my b

said, my voice steady.

smirk. "You did more than live. You nearly d

ing. "A powerful man with a c

ed with tension. One of his guards took a step forward, a low

you want?

it. My on

ctor. Someone who can help me bring

eer audacity. A lone, wounded Omega, trying to bargain

I," I said, my voice dropping to a whispe

us. I reached out and let my fingertips brush ag

touched him. He let out a sharp, involuntary ga

ed, shock and disbeli

. His gaze dropped to the fading

to remove it eventually. But not if I am dead, and not i

ountered. My gambit had paid off. The most po

to be free of the centuries o

racted, and he let out

I will protect you until your name is cleared or the next new moon, whichever comes firs

rning: he was not submitting. He was making a treaty. A tr

ack his aura of command, tucking away

w and resigned. "From this mo