t o

purr that vibrated through the wooden floorboards

flagstones. The head laundress scurried out of the doorway, dragging a terrified Bess by the

ocating bubble of damp air, bo

mp log wall, my fists clenched so tight my finge

ng down the light. The air between us burned with the chaotic friction of a mating bond violently rejecting

rs from my cheek, trembling as if trying to test an invisible barrier of glass. "You shouldn't be here. Willow Creek is a border slum.

gh slipped past my lips

atted his hovering hand away, the skin-to-skin contact sending a searing jolt of white-hot lightning up my arm. "I don'

dy be rolling in the dirt. Insolence from an omega was a punisha

Ronan f

his jaw, a sharp intake of breath but I saw i

ng for context that wasn't supposed to exist yet. "What are you talking about? I've never laid

ind. In three years, he'll visi

you never smelled me. Pretend I'm just another piece of dirty laundry. Because if you think I'm going to fall into your arms, beco

g in?" Ronan stepped closer, his voice dropping an octave, heavy wit

ed. "I know you

ght. "You said my name back there when you looked

r riddles," I snapped

arm before he could grab me, and bo

oots crunching on the gravel outside a

embers were staring in absolute shock at the future Alpha emerging from an omega's

g the dirt. Kael rested his hand on his hilt, com

is eyes wasn't anger it was absolute, unadulterated obsession. The bond had sunk its claws int

the lower omega quarters, a col

By waking up early, I had caught his attention before he even knew who I was. And an Alpha like Ronan doesn't let