Elbrus was no longer in the cavern, but several guards were. I didn’t fight when they took me down, I didn’t resist when they chained me to the silver hook in the sterile room. I simply waited for Elbrus.When he did come, hours later, he looked tired. Dark shadows smudged the olive skin below his eyes, his handsome face was lined with anger. Standing in front of me, arms folded, he demanded, “What was your pack doing with a member of my guard?”The unkown man, that must be how they found the tunnels to begin with. But why would a member of his own pack turn against him?“I don’t know who that man was, and I don’t know how or when they made contact with him.” I tried not to flinch as he stepped forward. “When I took Walt back to Summit Mist, I told Ransom not to try anything like that again. I didn’t give him any information, I left immediately after telling him to stand down.”“You gave him an alpha command?” Elbrus was only two feet away now, his eyes examined the table that held hi

My head was pounding and my throat felt like sand paper, lifting my stiff neck up as much as I could, I forced my eyes open against the glare of light streaming through the open window. Someone chuckled and I snapped toward the fire place, instantly regretting the swift movements as I discovered the new crick in my neck. Eva sat in a large chair by the fireplace, laughing at me with baby Mariana in her arms. She gestured to her own hair, and I raised my hand to my curls. I’m sure I look as though I’ve been electrocuted. I huffed and rolled over the bed until my feet hit the ground. Before I could pull the upper half of my body into an upright position, a wave of dizziness hit me, along with the horrible realization that I had been sleeping in the bed of the king. Panic caused my heart to slam against the walls of my chest, and I eased myself upright, trying to push back nausea.Before I could take a step, Elbrus cleared his throat. “Eva, Please bring Mariana to the bed, I believe it

I woke feeling mostly rested. The undercurrent of exhaustion was there, but Athena was stronger, and she was excited, hopeful. Her anticipation of what today would hold helped me drag myself up off the sofa. I had slept deeply, without dreaming, and the evidence of just how deep clung to my cheek. Curls matted in drool, disgusting. I shoved my wild mass of hair back, sending thoughts and prayers to my stiff legs, in hopes they would agree to carry my to the bathroom to wash up, when someone laid a hand on my shoulder. I shot up into a defensive stance, preparing to attack, but calmed when I scented Eva. Her wolf was at the surface, but her Amber eyes sparkled with amusement, and I heard Athena for the first time. “Play.” She whined, nudging at me to shift. “Settle down, she’s holding Mariana.” That sobered Athena, she mourned the loss of our pup, she longed to hold him, scent him, run with him through the forest and teach him to stalk prey. Pushing her down, I relaxed my stance an

Ridley raged at me when I refused to follow our mate back to the castle, just as he raged at me for breaking the chase when the pack notified me there was a rogue breach at the border. His instinct was to protect her, my instinct was she may be working with this intruder, and I needed reinforcements if I was going to take her on. Ridley released control, forcing me to shift back into my human form. When I reached out to him, needing to catch the rogues trail while it was still fresh, it was like reaching out into emptiness. Even his pain was gone, which unnerved me, but there was no time to contemplate it. I linked Ben and Saied with my location, and ordered them to search along the rogue’s trail, and organize teams to sweep the woods and the rest of the pack lands. It was time to interrogate the rogue and maybe some of the others that the guards had failed to extract information from. So I linked one of the servants to bring me clothes, and headed toward the pack dungeon. It was ea

Seeing Eva and Mariana was becoming the highlight of my days now. Eva and I had reached a tentative peace, and I enjoyed having the company. Today though, she brought news that I didn't realize I had been dreading until she gave it to me. "I have found a wet nurse for Mariana, she arrived this morning. I think it will be good her her to have someone in the nursery at all times to tend to her, but I will still bring her to you if you would like." Leaning forward to grab her tea cup, she patted my knee with her free hand. "I know how attached the two of you are to each other, but Elbrus tells me he needs you to free up time to help with the council matters and the ongoing treaty negotiations." "I understand," I murmer, accepting the tea she has poured for me, "If I'm able to, I'd like to see her at least once a day, even once my milk is dry, but I'm sure you can determine what is best for her schedule." Mariana hiccups and wraps her chubby baby fist around my index finger, my heart ac