"You've already won everything. This position as his scent-partner is all I have left to survive. Why won't you simply let me go?"
The commotion drew other pack members from nearby dens. Whispers rippled through the gathering wolves.
"Isn't striking a lower-rank a bit excessive...?"
"She's already showing throat. Show some mercy."
Someone raised a communication device to record the scene.
Raven knelt there, trembling artfully, tears streaming down her face. "Heir Ashvale, please... I'm begging you..."
The den door burst open with enough force to rattle the frame.
Kael shoved me aside without so much as a glance in my direction.
My stomach slammed into the corner of the heavy oak table. Pain shot through my ribs, doubling me over as I gasped for breath.
He helped Raven rise with infinite care, his thumb brushing gently over the red marks blooming on her cheek. His scent wrapped around her protectively.
She collapsed into his arms, sobbing harder against his chest. "Kael, I was so frightened..."
He turned to look at me then. His eyes were winter frost. His Alpha dominance pressed against the room like a physical weight.
"Lyra, why must you be so vicious?"