: K

ld gladly slit my throat in their sleep. None of them

couldn't keep her out of my thoughts. Every time I tried to focus o

wolf had suddenly gone silent before surging to life wit

life, some had tried to win my attention, whil

ed them before I even knew their names but Hailey had and that was a

called, pulling me

my eyes

front of him. "I was explaining the movement along our

tly where it needs to

m, but I noticed the slight narrowing of his eyes. He was an

epeating what I just t

dn't heard a word. My wolf stirred restle

red. "I'll review

reports. I forced myself to listen this time, asking quest

reat to every territory that refused to bow to him, and I couldn'

movements, my senses kept searc

ble to explain, but whenever she moved farther away, something inside me grew restless but when

er, my strength, and the violent impulses that came with being an Alpha. M

knew was making that

word rose from deep within me a

I mu

ng, I realized my mis

y something

ncerns this meet

e me. I was grateful for that, the last thing I needed was an

ess herself, it was meant to bring certainty, not confusion and it certainly w

eside me. Our public claim was part of the alliance betw

or me to dismiss it carelessly. I had made my choice and I would not allow an unex

my wolf growled, I pressed my fingers against the ed

hand. "Is something troublin

I re

ggests otherw

e. "Let us finish t

question but the damage was done and my a

ithout understanding what had happened between H

d until Victor left the room be

ou can about Hai

he young woman who works around

"Do you know anoth

," he repl

o her family is and speak to the people who have known her si

a," he sai

below, I told myself the inquiry was necessary. If the bon

iley in my path or whether there was something about her I

d beneath an ancient oak in Crescent Forest when she was a s

om the window. "

ft her there, no parents or relatives with her,

r family recor

identify her birth

him. "None

yone knows of

wolf?"

manifested one," he explained. "

woman with no wolf, no known parents, and no his

y had reacted as though I had finally found

nything els

as lived here under Victor's pro

eave," I s

back toward the window, but the

d abandoned without a name or family. S

y but together they stirred a feeling I had no desire t

its gates. I was younger then, serving under Malachi's command but I remem

no reason to connect it to Hailey. I forced

r's concern, her lack of a wolf was her own burde

ncing, though they still didn't explain why my

dinary that anyone passing her would have struggled t

pulled tight between us. My wolf surged forward, d

e was well, to touch her again and discover whether

ing there, her fingers tightened around the clothes,

," she gree

the caution beneath it, I gave a

" she

onvince myself to keep goi

own. "Did I do someth

ght me off guard

you avoiding m

was stronger at this distance, I could sense my wolf pressing against the limit

remain cold. "You are im

she ch

" I r

lapsed," she reminded me. "You helped me up, and you looked as though

ered the moment she had grabbed my arm and the way the bond had a

had no explanation for those things, and I didn'

I replied. "Anyone would have c

look at me that

d. "Enough, Hai

take the words back, I wanted to tell her that I didn't understand what was happening either, t

suspected, I would be acknowledging a bond I had al

f concerning yourself with me," I told her

ned, though the hurt

replied. "I was asking why you keep treating m

ven't,"

ough my presence is a p

her presence was a problem, not because she had offended me, but

"Stay out of m

saw the moment she decided not to ask anything else. She lowered

e me, furious at the distance I had created, I ignored it

ood beside our horses. One of them appr

ed, mounting wi

m the packhouse, I

itory boundary. The farther we traveled, the more I expec

inct urged me to turn around, return to Dark Wood, and

w, and I urged my horse forward, one fi

n to Shadowfang and pretend that nothing had changed but no matter how far I trave