/1/133240/coverbig.jpg?v=2f263276f57ed07abcc775a8b22df3bc&imageMogr2/format/webp)
painful impact on
e goblet tray clattered against her hip. One glass tipped, spilling water ove
erald gown shining beneath the corrido
. "The Grand Mating Ball is about to begin, and yo
eyes and steadied the tray with sh
d bett
he sight of Kora had left a stain on it. Then she
more. Luna Marguerite had never struck her before. Why tonight? Why no
sting and picked u
n a cellar. She had a bed, meals, and work. She was simply overlooked, as if she were another piece of
r, Vivienne, had once seemed kind too. But after her parents died, something changed. Vivienne's sm
d at Kora's door before sunrise, a
gift. "Today must be perfect. Help the other maids, polish e
at once. "Of c
n't embarrass me. You know how pe
r face, but the warnin
," Kora
the pack. Kora was only her handmaid
eparations done, she carried
ished marble. Alphas in dark velvet suits stood in groups, their voices low and confident. Lunas wore gowns in ruby, sapp
ful not to brush anyone's sleeve. She had learned to walk q
ad broken through her fingers, and no howl had ever risen in her throat. Most wolves assumed
when Kora almo
e air
dar smoke. Lightning striking raw earth. It was too strong, too deep, and it see
ballroom blurred
arble, the whisper of silk, the beat of music from the musicia
happeni
other. Champagne spilled over her wrist and down the
t the
d across the mar
e spread through the ballroom for a moment, u
d turned
s looked straight at her. His sil
t, Alpha King of t
looked carved from stone. Midnight silk covered his powerful frame. Even from across the ba
urst throug
ribs. It was not a sound, yet a word ech
a
re she could fall. Her face burned, her breath came in short g
s, Killian
hands curled into fists, claws scraping his palms. Inside him, his
i
She had no wolf, no experience with a mate bond, and no idea why
pped down f
t once. No one dar
gold gown. Her smile was bright, her posture perfect. She lin
ce, "there's no need to concern yourself. It'
eyes flashed cold and triumphant, as if
t her. He acted as tho
ained dress, and her trembling hands. She hated that her body still reac
ip cu
andmaid dares
arguerite's slap. Kora's mouth
other smell in the room. A vein pulsed in his neck. His fists tre
rd between th
began
s voice so every guest could hear. "I will
h. Someone laughed. Kora heard the word wolfless repeate
him to explain. Waiting for him t
he lifted
he Northern Realm, reject you, Kora, as
en cord
as if she could hold the pieces together. Her breath vanished. A hot line
ghing, whispering. She could hear
g into his ear. Kora could not hear the words, but sh
all she c
rned a
one reached for her. No one called after her. She passed the side doors and st
rose to cover the scandal, and the grand b
he gardens, one hand pre
e could feel Killian's g
. Furious.
entire realm. He had cut thei
as if he was not
/1/133240/coverbig.jpg?v=2f263276f57ed07abcc775a8b22df3bc&imageMogr2/format/webp)