ena'
hing the Varkos estate di
, keeping up appearances, going about the ordinary business of the day so no one
ss I was on my w
his," Kyra said, a hin
es
a. He has standings even though your mother helped him build it. Celeste isn't an Alpha eit
te has more standing than
new she didn't understand what I meant
st the window in
t about the humiliation of the sitting room, not about the torn dress still folded in the b
out what
ructural. He was an Alpha. In the eyes of pack law, he had authority over this marriage, over me, over every decision that
hority in the region t
The Alp
the way you avoid pressing on a bruise, not because it isn't
was time to take up my
without needing to announce itself. Her private residence was separate from her formal offices, which mea
levator, not the door, which mea
way she always did, taking
ay," she said, a small smile
," I agreed wit
d back to
ad never been the kind of person who kept things she didn't need. Velvet staye
nd set a cup in front of me, an
ted pat
lways respected about her. She nev
" I said, keeping my voice even.
n. Still controlled, but the temperature
d?" she
y." I wrapped both h
paused. "But it will happen again if I stay. He's decided
r own cup down
nience, but because it's been formally dissolved by someone with the authority to make it s
rent kind, not the empty type, but fu
she said
" I r
rriage means going through formal channels. It means Kaelen finds out immediatel
ware o
sed, choosing her words. "His positio
Kyra asked sharply, already
t meant. I had been carefully not th
g to issue the decree, Kaelen can't fight it. Pack law d
asks for someth
that weren't negotiated. Whatever Alaric wants, we discuss it like a
d see her working through every angle, every implication, every
she e
e a conversation. I can make sure it happens qu
qui
ys. Or may
Kaelen to do something irre
not entirely unpredictable.
I asked Celeste instead,
row at me, but then she sighed
t me make
/1/120646/coverbig.jpg?v=f0b5c79e9b985133792dfd4dd66bbbc7&imageMogr2/format/webp)