Page 159 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

Ronan stepped farther into the room. “We spoke about this.”

“We did.”

“And you ignored me.”

“I heard you.”

“That is worse.”

Cassie moved behind me. “I am right here.”

Ronan didn’t take his eyes off me. “This bond is already unstable. Attaching yourself to her more deeply does not make her safer. It makes the separation harder.”

The wolf pushed at the word separation. Cassie heard it through the bond. I felt her fear spike behind me, followed by anger so clean and human that it cut through mine.

“She is not a procedure,” I said.

“No, she is a human witness carrying a warped mark that could expose us, break you, and destabilize my entire pack if I mishandle the next twelve hours.”

“I said I’m right here!” Cassie snapped.

Ronan finally looked at her.

Cassie had pulled the sheet around herself, but there was nothing small in the way she stared at my brother. “If you are going to discuss my body, my death, or whatever tragic administrative burden my survival has caused, you can at least look at me while you do it.”

Ronan’s jaw flexed. “You have made a dangerous situation more complicated.”

“I had sex,” Cassie shot back. “Adults do that. Usually with less committee involvement.”

Sava closed her eyes briefly. I almost turned to look at Cassie.

Ronan didn’t blink. “You do not understand what this means.”

“That seems to be the island motto.”

“It means every wolf tonight will scent that the bond is stronger.”

“Good.”

Ronan went still. So did I.

Cassie’s voice didn’t shake. “If your old-law murder obstacle course is going to include other wolves trying to kill me, then maybe stronger is useful.”

Ronan’s gaze cut to me. “You told her.”

“She asked.”

“You should have waited.”

“No.”

The word came from the wolf as much as the man. Ronan heard that too. For the first time since the bite, I saw the full truth reach him. If pack law required Cassie’s death, I would break pack law. If council law called her false, I would kill the wolves sent to prove it. If Ronan himself stood between me and keeping her alive, brotherhood would not be enough to stop the wolf.

His eyes hardened, but something underneath them shifted. Grief, maybe. Or the first shape of fear.

“You would choose her over the pack,” he said.

Cassie’s breath caught behind me.