The words Mira had spoken did not fade when the silence returned to the room. They remained between them like a threat that neither of them could pretend to ignore.
Ryker stood very still in the middle of his study. The lantern light cast long shadows across the wooden floor, and the distant sounds of the pack settlement drifted faintly through the walls.
Mira’s voice had been calm when she offered herself to the Rite of Blood Judgment.
Her calmness frightened him more than anything else. “You will not do that.”
His voice came out low and firm.
Mira did not step back. “I already told you that you cannot stop me.”
Ryker’s eyes hardened. “I can stop you.”
“How?” she asked quietly.
Ryker took one slow step toward her. “I am still the Alpha.”
Mira held his gaze. “For now.”
The remind
