"Don't worry, sweetheart. I only want someone pure like you. Once the auction silver comes through, I'll commission you that moon-forged pendant you wanted, hmm?"
Watching them wrapped around each other, their scents mingling into something that burned my sensitive nose, I closed my eyes. Tears spilled down my cheeks, and despair—black and absolute—finally pulled me under.
My voice came out slow. Steady. Final.
"Alaric. Let's dissolve the bond."
He glanced at me sideways. Then he laughed, the sound echoing through the hall.
"Lyra, what makes you think you have the right to ask me for a bond dissolution?"
He rose, looming over me to drink in my anguish. His thumb brushed across my cheek, wiping away a tear with mock tenderness. The contact sent unwanted sparks through the frayed edges of our bond.
"Did you forget what I told you? I'm going to make you suffer for the rest of your life. And this?" He gestured around us at the watching pack members. "This is just the beginning."
"As long as I don't sign the writ, you'll never be free of this mating bond."
To punish my disobedience, Alaric moved Seren into our den.
The common room. The cooking quarters. The bathing chambers. The storage alcove.