You can’t give me orders in my own home!” Lino snarled. “And just because it is your ‘home’, doesn’t give you the right to enter my chambers anytime you see fit and maul me!” Cassy snarled right back. “I can and will do as it so pleases me, Cassy Benson!” “You’re a pig!” “And you’re the most infuriating woman I have ever met!” “Get out.” Cassy said, pointing at the door. “And don’t come in here again. Go to your mate and warm her bed. I do not need or want you here.” Before she could blink, Lino was in front of her and she was staring into his fierce depths. “Why? You would rather those men touched you? You would rather they warmed your bed instead?” Cassy frowned. “What?” Lino leaned further into her space. “Where were you, Cassy? For the last one month? With a man? You forget that you were my concubine and mother of my child. Do well to remember that before you run into the hands of another and spread your leg—“ Again, Cassy lost it. She didn’t realized
If Alpha Zane noticed her sudden sullenness, he gave no indication. He rose to his feet and stretched out an arm. “Walk with me, Lady Cassy.” Cassy laughed before placing her small hands in his much bigger ones. “Of course. The chief's castle has the finest gardens...and whatever it is that might interest you.” "I see," Alpha Zane said and leaned in. "You interest me enough. A little bird chirped to me this morning, and it would seem you have done the Alpha's face a great disservice. How ever might the ladies fawn over his swollen eyes and face now?" Cassy could hardly hold the rumble of laughter that escaped her lips. "It was a duel. Surely, punches are thrown around in duels," she said, maneuvering smoothly around the halls as the Alpha followed her. "I hear of a time where it was you who painted the Alpha's face in bruises." Alpha Zane chuckled, stepping up to hold out the door for her as they stepped into the yard. Maidens eyed them as they walked, whispering an
She didn't have to be there. She had no mate. She said as much to Lino, but the Alpha wouldn't hear or have it. "Whether or not you have a mate doesn't matter. You are a maiden of my pack and as such, you will attend. Perhaps, in the mountain peaks, you just might find your mate." Cassy's nostrils flared. "I refuse to attend." Lino leaned into her space until their noses were touching. "You will attend." Ire sparked in her eyes. "You cannot force me. Do not push me, Alpha. Do not push me!" "I can, and I will," Lino fumed. "You!" Cassy yelled, slamming her hands into his chest. He staggered slightly from the force of the blow but he held his own against her, refusing to back down. With every passing day, Cassy's ice melted into fire. Lino infuriated her to no end. He had no right over her, not anymore. She was not his 'anything'. Why did he keep acting like he owned a piece of her? She had lost the only thing that connected them. There was no connection,
"Lino," Eleanor said, pressing her hand flush to his chest and she took in a whiff of his scent. Cassy's scent mingled with his and Eleanor shook, her wrath great. "She marked you," she whispered but her voice carried well around the room, cold and lethal. "It hurts, El," Lino cried, his eyes glazed with pain, and Eleanor's blonde brows arched at that. "She rejected you?" Why would any woman in her right frame of mind reject the Alpha? But then, saying that Cassy was in her right frame of mind was a stretch. A damn long stretch. "Make. It. Stop." He forced out, each word less coherent than the last, and Eleanor's brows furrowed as she thought deeply on what she was to do next. And she came to a decision. Nothing. She would do nothing. Lino brought this upon himself, so let him feel the pain of her rejection. Let it burn him inside and out. Let him experience all of it. Because she knew Lino. He was a diamond in the rough. Her fire would forge somet
Alpha Zane lunged for her without warning and she swung the blade swiftly in defense, blocking the lethal blow. Has she been an amateur, she would have taken a dangerous cut to her chest. Bad enough to wound her mortally. He would not have swung like that if he didn't know if she was good. He was not going easy on her. Someone must have filled him in on how she fought. "It would seem your 'bird' has told you more than enough about me," she said, cracking a brazen grin, and his grin stretched so wide, she found herself laughing. Her legs wobbled from the impact and she plastered her feet into the sand, having gotten rid of the useless glass slippers seconds ago. Alpha Zane withdrew and charged for her again with insane strength and speed. It was an effort to block it again without her sword clattering away from her grasp. Had she not mastered endurance, it might have been a problem. Had she not practiced so many times with larger males, it might have been a bigger problem. Sh
Lino stared in horror at the hulking Alpha crushing Cassy underneath his weight. Alpha Zane's next words, however, were what confused him. "You lose. Yield, and let us get the mating ceremony started." What in the Goddess's name did that mean? What on earth had they dueled for? Bargained for? The only thing stopping him from ripping out Zane's heart was Kayden and the captain of his sentries who held him back. He couldn't interrupt a duel. There were rules. "No," Cassy said, panting. Her lips looked slightly pale and her eyes were glazed. Her skin looked a tad pale as well. Had she not been eating well? She didn't look as bad yesterday, or the day before. Alpha Zane chuckled, bringing the sharp edge of his sword to Cassy's neck and she inched out of the blade's reach. Lino gave a warning growl that had Kayden inching a step away from the vexed male. "You have lost. Yield," Zane said, voice smug with victory. Somehow, Cassy's stunning blue eyes met h
Another dream, Cassy thought as she wandered through the darkness. She had no form. Or maybe she did, but she felt nothing. She knew she was threading the darkest path but she did not feel her legs. She tried lifting her hands to her face, but she found that her form was incorporeal. "Hello?" She called out into the unending that darkness, but there was no answer. Not even an echo returned to her. "Hello?" She tried again, but as she expected, there was no reply. She moved still...at least, that was what she thought she did. She wasn't quite sure, seeing as she couldn't see herself. Or anything else. There was a soft snarl in the dark and Cassy whirled in that direction, and she stilled when she saw a blue pair of eyes staring back at her. They seemed familiar, somehow. "Pax?" Her wolf yowled and inclined its head towards the darkness as if to say, "Come." But where to? There were no paths--at least, none that she could see. "Where..." Her voice trail
"Wait! What truth? You speak in riddles and expect me to understand," Cassy said. The wolf paused slightly. "There is much you do not know. Or understand. She chose you for more reasons than your death. Yes, it had been a fluke to be corrected. However, from the point upon which you were brought back from the woes of death, you were spoken for. Her Favored, she named you. This is bigger than you, or any sought revenge. She has given you the right to avenge that which was stolen, but there is more to it than that. And until all truths have been spoken, your understanding of all things will be limited." Cassy's confusion only grew. "Why don't you tell me the truth then? What is it that I do not know? What is being kept from me?" The wolf turned, its tail swishing left and right. "It is not my truth to tell. Only after it has been told will I come to you again. Do not fight any of it. It is her will. We would hate to have to find another vessel because of your stubbornness.