TroyThe night was quiet and peaceful. There was no danger in the air, no warning signs that anything might go wrong, or that an enemy was on the way.Not that it was always easy to detect approaching danger, and I could be fooled, lulled into a false sense of security even, but the princes brought with them their own warriors, and it was harder than ever to sneak up on me.Quinn slept peacefully by my side, curled up with her hand tucked in under her head.We tried one of her little fantasies with the spreader bar. I used a riding crop on her for the first time. She wasn’t prepared for the intense cascade of pleasurable pain she’d experience, nor the lasting sting of the crop biting into her pussy.After I took care of her and made sure she was all right, she thanked me and went straight to sleep. Usually, such an intense scene would knock me out cold – I didn’t think Quinn knew that it was as exhausting for me as it was for her – but tonight, sleep evaded me for some reason.All the

QuinnI stared at Troy, trying my best not to let my mouth droop open in surprise. “So…Xander wants to kill me because I may or may not do something in the future?”“Yeah,” my mate answered and shovelled scrambled eggs into his mouth.How in the hell could he be so calm about it? “And my grandmother wanted to kill me because Xander told her so?”“He threatened her sons’ lives, but basically, yes.” He bit into some bacon and took a sip of coffee.We had been going 'round and 'round with this conversation all morning. I was surprised Troy hadn't told me to shut up about it yet.“You just let my grandfather go? He’s wandering around the mansion right now?”Troy nodded. “He’s a sick old man, he is no threat to us…and he was honest.”“How could you tell? You were surrounded by silver.”Troy folded his arms in front of him and rested them on the table. “I don’t need my powers to know when someone’s being truthful. I’m over three-hundred-years old. I can read a person’s body language, their

Troy Jonas Smart was not happy when I returned from the bathroom where I hid so I could mind link with Quinn. “I’m sorry. We need to cut this meeting short. My wife needs me for something at home.” Our meeting was in Jonas’s filthy strip club. It was so dirty that I was too afraid to touch anything in case I caught some rare, untreatable, extinct disease. I couldn’t even bring myself to sit down on one of the sticky barstools. “You know, I’m married too," Jonas said. "I don’t allow my wife to lead me around by the short and curlies like you do.” I raised my eyebrows and stared him right in the eyes until he backed down and lowered his gaze. I could never understand humans and their shallow feelings for their spouses. Wolves mated for life, humans didn’t, and my Lycan nature refused to accept that. I did not see the allure of a life where you didn’t commit fully to your mate. A life where you kept waiting for someone or something better to come along, and leaving a partner that was

Quinn I explained to the women what Morella had showed me, how she told me that I’d break my bond with Troy and go to his father instead. All but Missus Lowry and Ida doubted Morella’s prophecy. “That means you can never leave,” the old housekeeper said. "You have to stay even if it hurts." "Yes," Giuliana agreed. "That is why we're here right? To keep you standing." “It's not that simple...I won't be the one who leaves. Troy is the one who leaves,” I explained. “At least...I think so. Morella was a little cryptic.” “I don't think the prince will leave,” Nell said. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.” “Well,” Olivia chipped in, and gently squeezed my arm. “If he does leave, we’ll be here to make sure you don’t…go over a cliff and break your bond.” I glanced at Missus Lowry. “The end is not near,” I said to her, knowing she knew what I meant. It could mean she wouldn’t see the end of this war in her lifetime. “I think it won’t come for years yet.” “If you follow the path of break

Quinn"Where are we going?" I asked Troy."You'll see," he said mysteriously. "Dinner first though."By the time we were done with our supper the sun was already setting.I expected that we'd go to some kind of club or bar in Haverton, but Troy kept driving until we reached a town that was almost a hundred miles away. I knew this place, but not the name of the town. I passed through it on my way to Haverton. It was big enough to stay anonymous, but not so big that one could disappear.“There are almost no wolves here,” Troy declared.“Oh. Right,” I mumbled.My heart thrummed out a steady rhythm against my ribs. I was alight with excitement and nerves as Troy pulled into a half full parking lot outside a nightclub. "It's a fetish club," he declared, "but we are not going inside."Cars came and went, the headlights illuminating the inside of our vehicle as they drove past. “Get in the back seat,” Troy ordered.I climbed through the gap between the two front seats, but Troy got out and w