Dani stepped away at once, breathing hard. A smear of red stained the white of her collar. She wouldn’t look at him.
“It is done,” the priest said. “May this union bring strength to the pack.”
Arthur didn’t like the hesitation in his voice.
The priest retreated into the trees, leaving them alone.
Silence pooled thick around them. Dani’s hand still bore the stain of his blood. Her braid had fallen apart, curls wild. Her mark peeked over the neckline of her gown, already darkening.
She looked wrecked.
She looked perfect.
“Dani,” he said quietly.
“Don’t.” Her voice was a blade. “Don’t say you’re sorry. Don’t pretend this was for me.”
He swallowed. “We need to talk.”
Her laugh was brittle. “About which part? The fact that I didn’t have a choice in this? Or…or everything that happened before.”
“I did it to protect you.”
“You did it to protectyour pack,” she snapped. “You always do, Arthur. That’s the problem.”
He stepped closer, the bond tugging like a tether. He stopped a breath away, afraid of what might happen if he didn’t.
“You’re my mate,” he said. “Nothing comes before that now.”
She flinched. “You don’t get to say that. Not after ten years.” Her voice shook, tears pooling in her eyes.
He bit back the memories with a snarl, fists clenching. “Dani,” he said, “this bond will give me strength. Strength I need to defend us against the hybrids. To defendyou. And Aurelia.”
Her eyes closed for a moment at the name. “You can tell yourself you’re doing this for me. Formydaughter. But you’re doing it for the pack. Otherwise, I would have had a choice.”
“You had a choice,” he growled, her words lashing against him. “You didn’t have to accept this.”
Her eyes burned bright, her voice laced with bitterness as she spat, “Oh, but I did.For the good of all of us.”
Then she turned.
Fire flickered in her palm, flames licking her fingers, and she swept it in a single, clean arc, extinguishing half the candles in a line.
And then she walked into the trees.
The bond tugged, sharp and protesting.
His wolf snarled, begging to follow.
He stayed still.
If he went after her now, instinct would take over, and they would consume each other before they even had a chance to speak.
So he let her go.
For now.
***
