Page 47 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

Malrec first. Old, sharp, offended. “She lived.”

Ronan’s answer was quiet. “Yes.”

“Then the breach has grown.”

“The breach is contained.”

“She is human.”

“Yes.”

“She has seen us.”

“Yes.”

“She carries your brother’s mark.”

Ronan’s hand closed around the doorframe. Wood cracked under his fingers. “Choose your next sentence with care.”

The hall went silent.

I stood again, slower this time.

Cassie’s heartbeat trembled upward, and I forced myself to stop at the side of the bed.

Through the opening, I could smell them. Elder Malrec. Cormac. Two guards. Three council wolves behind them. Fear layered with anger, old law, and the metallic edge of silver someone had brought close enough to be insulting.

My wolf noticed the silver. So did Ronan and the hallway pressure changed. When my brother spoke again, his voice carried the Alpha through every stone beneath the resort.

“Anyone who brings silver to this door will lose the hand that carries it.”

No one answered.

Ronan continued, “You waited for dawn because the law said dawn would end the human. Dawn has passed. Your law didn’t finish the work. Until I decide otherwise, Cassie Morgan remains under my protection.”

Malrec said, “Your protection or his?”

That was the wrong question. A growl moved out of me before I could pull it back.

Cassie convulsed on the bed and Sava cursed, reaching for her as the monitor screamed.

Everything inside me broke toward her. I put my hand on the sheet near her arm, not touching skin, not taking, just giving the mark something to recognize. The black veins around the bandage pulsed, then eased.

Cassie’s body settled. Her breathing came thin and harsh through parted lips.

Sava glared at me. “If you cannot control your wolf, leave the room.”

“I leave, the mark burns.”

“You stay, and your rage burns it faster.”

Ronan heard every word from the doorway.

So did the hall.

Good. Let them understand the trap they stood beside.

My brother turned his head slightly, speaking to the wolves beyond him while watching me over his shoulder.