ier

ght air cool, the stars sharp. I break a piece

red like blood, like fire, like

n that corridor and held her chin and threatened her with the very secret I had sworn to keep. I watched her face crumple, and I kept going, because I needed an answer more than I needed her trust. She called me

ps out, calm and sharp-eyed.

kno

s. "You have been distracted since the tour. You have

y no

o this alliance rests on you. Tonight is sacred. The Goddess will speak,

l, when mates find each other and the future is written in the stars. But I am

e allian

I read every line before you did. They will have

out in the courtyard, on a white wolf in

t ending slavery, about changing this king

y says. "You have been differen

ight and watching. "She i

t. You care about her.

hard. "And if

n be careful. Be smart. Do not let

heart has never led m

"Your mother was the same. She l

r her warmth, and the way she lo

o unite the packs, to remake this kingdom. You also have the power to start a war and bri

s toward the building where Helen showed me the corridors. The

miling, all pretending. I nod at greetings and smile at bows, but I am not looking

th

wless, grey eyes cold. "Prince Xavier. I

impre

. The dancers, the serv

stomping. Servers weave through the crowd with trays, in clean uniforms, with brushed hair

"Who a

ntertainers. They serve,

iners,"

es

e beaten, starved, and humiliated, and I k

ough the room, sweet

le

ds clasped, in a clean uniform, her red hair pinned back. Her face is pale

and instant. Someone struck

heart pound and my blood burn. I have thought about her every night since the

bsorbed in the dancers. I take a drink from t

ng, her eyes on the floo

look

rise, or anger, or even fear of me. It is something deeper and darker, a

omeone who has alre