In the darkness of my room, I wept alone.
So the wolf who had shared my bed that night was never Hadeon at all. And yet he had still bonded me, this tainted she-wolf, willingly, all for Cressida Thornwood.
He had even accepted a pup that had nothing to do with him.
I remembered the day the raiders slaughtered my pack. He had looked at my skirt, soaked through with blood, and wept until he could barely breathe.
He had sworn to me, voice shaking with conviction: "Perenna, I promise you, I won't let the pack die in vain. And I won't let our pup's sacrifice be for nothing."
He kept his word. Within three days, he tracked down the raiders' hideout and killed every last one of them.
For years, I had been overwhelmed with gratitude toward him. It never once crossed my mind that all of it, every single piece, had been his doing from the start.
Nyx's voice came from outside the door. "My lady, your meal is ready."
"Leave it. I'm not hungry."
The food laced with wolfsbane extract. I didn't dare touch it. My wolf pressed herself low against my ribs, guarding the tiny heartbeat beneath my own.