~ CASIMIR ~   My father stared at me, power crackling and boiling in the air behind him.   I rushed to soothe his suspicions, raising my hands in surrender, which was the only kind of submission he’d accept.   “No, no, Dad! I just meant, that’s the hierarchy—if the male dies, the Alpha female is supposed to be the one who leads until the next Alpha takes the—”   “And what do you think it does to her if she believes that’s her due? What would you do if you knew that with one step you could snap my neck and take it all fo

 ~ JESSE ~ Maya burst into cackling laughter when I delivered Cazz’s message—which made me giggle too, but would disappoint him, I suspected. He had wanted to piss her off. I watched her face and tried to fix the memory in my mind to share with Cazz later, because I couldn’t reach him from here in her cave—a fact that made my chest a little cold. This morning I had almost turned around and fled back to my quarters when I was halfway to Maya’s cave, because I could feel Cazz fading. But I had made myself keep going. He needed space, he was going to get it. And I would survive. He’d said the link would come back when we were closer. I just prayed he was right. And that he didn’t take

~ JESSE ~Maya and I finished earlier than usual, which just made me jittery because I knew Cazz wasn’t going to be done with his meetings yet, and I was nervous about whether he’d retreat from me again. So I took the coward’s way out and distracted myself.I called the younger three of the females Maya had introduced to me to, and this time I wasn’t going to be distracted. I needed to choose one of them to present at the Selection.I reached for them through the mindlink, but struggled at first. I was still deep in the catacombs, walking towards the Royal tunnels, so maybe I was too far away. But after a minute, I found Reeca and even though I was struggling to hold the link, managed to communicate to her that I wanted to talk to her and Wylde and Tynker.To help me, she linked with the other two. And with all three of them in a link together, I was able to hold it more easily.‘Will you be in trouble if you leave whatever you’re doing and come visit with me right now?’ I asked them,

~ JESSE ~ Reeca lifted her hands to soothe me. “No, we do get a choice if a male wants us. It’s not forced on us. We can accept or reject them. It’s just… it’s just that I am unlikely to ever have a powerful choice outside of this. If you choose me, Jesse, I would be stupid not to take it if one of the males proposes.” “Then, I don’t understand the problem?” She gave a dry smile. “Neither do I, honestly. I guess I’m just nervous at the idea. This would… lift me much faster and higher than I’d get on my own. And I don’t want to be a reason that you’re brought lower than you should be, either.” “Don’t worry about me. My mate is super-wolf, remember?” I said with a snort. She smiled, but shrugged. “I think you should know… Those of us who aren’t obsessed with rank… we love what you’ve done with the King.” “What I’ve done?” I asked, confused. “Run around crying and confused and pissing him off?” “No, no,” she said with a breathless laugh. “Just… treating him with softness.” Then sh

~ CASIMIR ~ All thoughts of time, the council, meetings, even the humans fell out of my head like raindrops through the leaves—falling to be trampled underfoot without notice. Jesse leaned into that kiss, her hands climbing my chest, plowing into my hair, and when I reached for her buttons, she arched into my hands and returned the favor, working quickly to get my shirt open first and stroking my chest with a sigh that sounded like relief. Her scent was rich with desire and need, drenched in thrill, but tinged with the blade edge of apprehension. Once I had her shirt open, I cupped her jaw and kissed my way down her neck, plunging one hand into her leathers and growling with approval when I found her already heated and slick for me. The moment I slid a finger against her, she sucked in a breath and hollowed her lower back to press herself into the touch with such eagerness that I chuckled, my voice deep and ragged, because my body was already demanding her. At some point I remov