Rejected by the Pack, Claimed by the Shadow Commander

ya

boots landing soundlessly

nd sharp, but my cleansed blood b

buttresses, slipping past three guards leaning aga

hern curtain wall,

cked stone barrier

zen mortar between the stones

led me upward

he parapet, a crushing wei

ting, predatory au

locked in

the ice, but I caught myself, pre

out of the shadow of t

a half-mask covering the upper half of his

e-wolf pelt, his dark eyes fix

Kingsle

he King's Inquisitorial Tribunal, ans

utioner, a man who hunt

ades grinding against stone. "The forgotten pup of Hous

ulse to steady, refu

r. This has nothing t

fox," he said. "And you are sta

to haul myself over the parapet. He moved

s gloved fingers moving

ice-like grip, tilting

s icy, reeking of dried blo

d off him in waves. I sti

the half-mask dragged down the sid

s my cheekbone, smudging the soot away to expose the pale, porcelain skin beneath.

er pin hidden inside my sleeve, and I drove th

cream and alert the

rous smirk, his dark eyes gl

l back from my steel. He leaned into it, until the point pricked skin. "And when mine come, they will not be gentle.

Then you will never lear

the mask-the first honest t

ng heartbeats, his grip firm enou

step back, folding his a

l, almost bored. "Let me see what kind

he parapet-not hard, only long enough for me to

, "I will come and find you. I am very good at

ll make certain you have

t waste

d down the outer slope of the ditch, and vanishe

he commander was gone, as if he had

hrough the frozen birch woods towa

ep burned bright against the black sky,

my eldest brother-Bernard Bradford, Captain o

ne and found Breonna shiver

re chatterin

ater will freeze your heart

avy woolen cloak, dro

ite linen slip, the howling wind im

the frost coating my eyelashes. "When the horses bre

d on a sob an

toward

ocated the patch where the current ran

from the birch woods, accompanied by

hree paces across the frozen crust, and threw