THERON’S POV
I just stared at him. Watched how this selfish man was unraveling over a mate bond.
Our betrothal to Vera Velora had always been an obsession of his, even while Mother lived. I’d never understood why—except that the late Beta, Maxon Velora, had died protecting the royal family.
But I knew my father well enough to doubt that he’d ever take such sacrifices personally—obsessively.
Mother supported this vision of us being mated to Vera, and though I was much younger then, my naïve mind had hated the idea of taking someone who wasn’t my fated mate.
Sometimes, I was tempted to think this was about something else—something big enough to tip a madman like Edward Romanov over the edge with desperation.
But what could it be? What was it about Vera that made him and Mother, for on
