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I tightened my hand around Cedric’s arm as the space between the two silver snow leopards slowly widened.

Beyond them was a hall so large that it seemed to disappear into the mountain itself. Two lines of soldiers stood along either side, leaving a broad path through the centre towards another enormous flight of dark stone stairs at the far end.

At the top of those stairs stood six men.

My heart threatened to explode, but I held my head high as Cedric guided me along the path, with Samir, Matthias and Commander Halden following behind us.

Thousands of soldiers lined the hall, every head turned towards me as we passed. Their scents hit all at once, thousands of individual notes layered so heavily over one another that I couldn’t separate a single one. The sheer onslaught made my stomach turn.

I tightened my grip on Cedric’s arm and kept walking.

Cedric stopped at the foot of the stairs.

The hall fell completely silent.

He placed his free hand over the centre of his chest.

“A new light to you, High Lord Vaelor. I am Cedric Hart, First Alpha of Pack Hart of Kharith, firstborn Alpha of Pack Sandtear.”

His voice carried through the enormous hall.

“I come before your House with my firstborn Omega, Elowen Hart, scent-matched to the Alphas of Pack Stormforge. I place her beneath the protection of your House while she seeks her place amongst them. Should her prospective Pack fail in its duty to her, I ask that House Vaelor shelter and protect my daughter until I am able to return and reclaim her into my care.”

Cedric’s arm remained steady beneath mine.

“High Lord Magnus Vaelor, do you receive her?”

Magnus descended one step.

I’d seen his image before we left Kharith. In it, he’d looked like what I expected from a seventy-five-year-old man: older, silver-haired and perhaps even a little fragile.

Standing before him now, I realised how spectacularly wrong I’d been. Age showed in the deep lines around his eyes and mouth and in the silver that had almost completely overtaken his dark hair, but there was nothing fragile about the enormous man looking down at us. His shoulders were still broad, his body thick with strength beneath his midnight-blue coat.

He looked perfectly capable of breaking a man in half.

“I receive Lady Elowen Hart beneath the protection of House Vaelor. While she remains under the protection of my House, no harm done to her shall go unanswered. Should the Stormforge Pack fail her, she will remain under my protection until Pack Hart returns to reclaim her.”

Cedric inclined his head. “So it shall be. Let it be law.”

Magnus returned the gesture.

“So it shall be. Let it be law.”

Magnus descended the remaining steps, chin high and eyes fixed on me.

“A new light to you, Lady Elowen,” he said when he reached the bottom. “It is my pleasure to receive you.”

I lowered my head and tried to greet him back, but no words came out. His presence was so overwhelming this close that every instinct I had urged me to move away, or at least look anywhere but at him.

“You may speak freely, Elowen.” His voice was firm but carried no trace of unkindness. “You are a daughter of this House and the future mate of my only living sons. No harm will ever come to you by my hand. I ask for your respect, never your fear.”

Something in his voice, gentle beneath all that authority, untangled whatever had happened to mine.

“Thank you, High Lord. I’m so glad to finally be here.” I managed to look up and meet his eyes properly. “If I don’t get on another ship for ten years, it’ll still be too soon.”

Magnus’s eyes remained cold and unreadable.

My confidence disappeared.