Page 216 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

Cassie’s voice shook, then steadied. “He was the one who bit me, yes. He was the one who hurt me first. And somehow he is still the only one who bothered to care that it happened.”

I could not breathe. The binding pulled toward her so violently it almost drove me to my knees.

No.

I locked it down. I could not let her save me with words when I had already decided to die in silence later.

Silas looked at her as if she were a charming animal performing a trick. “You really do not know.”

Ronan’s power pressed into the courtyard. “Silas.”

“No, let her hear it.” Silas’s gaze slid to me. “Let them all hear it! Since we seem to be staging public sentiment before public slaughter.”

The wedding party stared, confused and terrified. Henry kept barking until he coughed.

Cassie lifted her chin. “Hear what?”

Silas spread his hands. “That you were never his destined mate, little human. You were a mishap.”

Tessa whispered, “What is he talking about?”

Grant said, “What the hell is this?”

No one answered them.

Silas enjoyed that too.

“The rite Ian entered was altered,” he said. “It was never designed to join two noble souls under the moon, or whatever poetry these provincial wolves still feed their females. It was designed to bind his wolf to the female who held the mark.”

Cassie went still. I felt the shock hit her through the binding.

I shoved calm toward her so hard it hurt.

Silas’s smile deepened. “That was meant to be Evelyn. A clean political arrangement. His teeth, her hand, my command moving through her when needed.”

Ronan’s wolves growled low.

Silas glanced at them. “Do not pretend outrage. You have all wanted Ian controlled for years. I was simply more honest about the method.”

Cassie turned her head slowly toward me. Her eyes found mine. I could not hide everything. I saw the moment she realized I had known. Pain crossed her face, not loud enough for Silas to enjoy, but enough to cut through the calm I was feeding her.

Silas continued. “Then you fell into the circle. Wrong woman. Wrong blood. Wrong body holding the line. A leash tied to an errant human.”

“Stop,” I said.

Silas’s eyes met mine. “Or what? You will kill me in front of every human witness here? You will shift and prove what every pack already fears? Please do.”

Cassie’s father shouted, “What is he talking about? What are you people?”

The Thorne wolf near him grabbed his shoulder. Cassie’s whole body tensed and Sava moved closer to her.

Good. Stay close to Sava. Remember the plan.

Silas looked at the wedding party with theatrical patience. “They have not told you? How rude.”

“Silas,” Ronan warned.

“They are wolves,” Silas said.