~ JESSE ~ I swallowed hard. She didn’t scare me in the sense that I knew I could outrun her—not how I usually felt with a wolf. But I was beginning to see why the servants had all been so nervous. She was the kind of person who looked at you, and it felt like she could see through your clothes and read your thoughts. And she wasn’t impressed by anything she found in either place. “Thank you for seeing me—” I started, trying to be polite. But she growled. “Girl, you sent for me as if I am a common wolf, submitted to your will. Even the King—your mate—does not do that.”

 ~ JESSE ~ “I can see that you grasp what true strength is,” Maya said carefully a moment later, but her face was still firm, still skeptical. “But knowledge and understanding are not the same thing.” “That’s why I need help. I know the pack functions in a hierarchy, but I don’t understand how it works. I know Cazz has been wounded and that’s why he lashes out, but I don’t understand why he chose me if I trigger that. I know wolves are having conversations in their minds all the time that I can’t hear, but I don’t understand how the packmind works… or if I can access it without that stupid drink.” Maya frowned. “All things your mate should have explained and helped you understand,” she grumbl

~ JESSE ~ On the sixth day meeting with Maya, I returned to my chambers later than usual. Usually I left her before lunch, but we’d been making progress, so she’d had food brought to us there at her rooms. By the time I got back to the royal wing I was utterly exhausted, still slightly pissed at Maya, but also elated. She had insisted that we spend the entire morning working on my awareness of the packmind and ability to link. Then she had proceeded to spend hours poking at me, goading me, and venting her frustration when I didn’t make progress. At first I had despaired. It was the closest I had come to giving up since she started meeting with me. As if she knew that, she grew disdainful—and kept pressing. “Is this what you believe a Queen should be? Flinching and self-pitying? Or is it a ruse? I know there is strength within you. Do you pretend weakness to disarm an opponent? Is that how you work?” “Maya, you aren’t my opponent!” “Oh no? You fight the submission. You resist m

~ CASIMIR ~I stormed through the tunnels of the Palace, furious at her and furious at myself, and even more furious about that because I didn’t understand it.But one thing was becoming clear; I should never have claimed her. I should never have invoked the immutable bond. I should have known. I did know! But I’d been caught up, and the pack was descending and…“Fucking fuck!” I muttered. One of the servants passing me squeaked and cowered.I kept walking, muttering to myself, my mind closed like a steel trap so no one else could overhear it.She is my mate. She is a breeder.

 ~ CASIMIR ~ “Where have you been?” I asked abruptly as the other wolves settled and stepped back to allow Jesse to greet me first as was our tradition. She was my mate. She had first right to my attentions. But she didn’t seem to realize it was an honor they bestowed upon her and she blinked nervously, glancing at them over her shoulder before turning back to me. “We were… playing hide and seek, I suppose. I’m learning to sense others. I was using a group link to find them.” My heart rose sharply—she was linking? I was stunned. “You can access the packmind without an aid?” She shrugged, but a hint of th