Edric closes the bedroom door behind us and throws his clothes on the bed. “We only have a few minutes,” he says. I have no idea what's going on. What he's planning. A few minutes ago, he just grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs without a word. I can only guess it’s because I froze up and basically told the whole kingdom that my parents abandoned me. “I’m sorry.” “What for?” he asks. “For freezing up. Not saying my parents’ names.” “That’s my fault,” he says. I sit on the bed, bundling the dress and petticoats up under me. It’s a beautiful gown, I love it, but it’s not the most comfortable dress. I should have gone for something a little sleeker, but the moment Jolie and the queen saw me in it, they insisted that it was the dress. “You’re not angry?” “No. You told me yesterday that you don’t want to say their names, and I dismissed you. I should have listened.” He kneels in front of me, taking both my hands in his.

My insides contract as Edric slips his arms around me, cupping both my breasts and rolling my nipples between his fingers. My wolf purrs in response to his touch. Sighing, I lean back against him, trusting that he won’t let me fall. He drops his head to my neck, nuzzling me, tracing the lines of my jaw, leaving behind a trail of fire in his wake. Warm need flushes through me, electricity exploding from my centre when his lips flutter over the mark he left on me. I try to turn around, want to look at him but he won’t let me. Swatting the side of my butt, he keeps me in place with his strong arm wrapped around my waist. “The only words I want to hear from you are yes, no, or stop,” he breathes in my ear. “Otherwise, shut up or I’ll start spanking you.” “Okay.” He swats my other butt cheek, not so hard that it hurts, but enough to sting. Instead of scaring me like I expected, it turns me on even more. I really don’t understand my sexual side well enough

Edric's POV: “Marcus Brown, you stand accused of launching an unprovoked attack on the Luna of Mountain Fire. What say you?” “I’m innocent, your majesty,” Marcus replies. What? He admitted it to me. I ball my fists in my lap, trying my best not to speak out of turn. “Motivate your claims of innocence.”  “At the time of the attack, Maya was not yet the Luna for Mountain Fire, and Edric had not yet marked her, so she wasn’t officially his mate. In fact, she did not even belong to the pack. She was still a rogue.” Dammit, the fucker found a loophole. The king nods and turns to me. “Alpha Edric Payne, is this true?” I stand. “Yes, your majesty. It wasn’t official yet, but the pack had accepted her, and she already started performing her duties as Luna when it happened.” “But everyone did technically consider her a rogue.” “No, your majesty, a day after she arrived, she lost her rogue sc

I can’t say anything without making Edric look weak. Earlier, I was so angry with him…but after I heard Marcus's answers, I finally understood what my mate meant. Is he condemning the man to make me happy? “Very well,” the king says. “Sentence to be carried out at dawn tomorrow morning. Who will carry out the execution?” “I’ll do it,” Edric says. A wolf pops to his feet. “Really now, your majesty, are you telling me that Edric doesn’t bear a grudge. Look how eager he is to execute Marcus.” Edric turns around, his eyes cold. “As eager as you are to kill the emerging Alphas in your pack Kenneth?” So that’s Kenneth. I wondered what he looked like. He’s the first unattractive Alpha I’ve seen, with mousy, lank hair, and weird light brown eyes like dirty bathwater. The Alpha’s mouth opens and closes like a fish on dry land. “I would never...” Edric ignores him, turning back to the king. “The one who passes the sentence carries it out. That’s our pack’s law.” The king nods. “Very well.

Every wolf we pass stops us and asks what happened to me. Edric lies so smoothly and convincingly, that even I am half-convinced by the time we make it to our bedroom. “I think everyone bought it.” He lays me down on the bed, and gingerly removes the shirt I’m still clutching to my chest. The wounds reopen and start to bleed again. He disappears into the bathroom and returns with a first-aid kit. “Should I call Doc?” he asks. “These scratches are pretty deep.” “No. Unless I won’t heal by myself. I will heal right?” “Of course you will. If you shift, they’ll heal faster.” I shake my head. My wolf almost took control earlier, just before I slashed open Kenneth’s neck. I can feel her pacing around, she wants to get out, eager to hunt and kill. I can’t risk it. “No. My wolf’s too…restless.” “She wants to kill, right?” I nod. “Yeah, it’s normal. She’ll settle, don’t worry.” Edric rips the tatters of my dress off, then drenches a cle