"You can't be serious."
James' fist slammed into the stone pillar beside him, sending cracks spider-webbing through the ancient rock. His eyes burned molten gold, the scent of scorched oak and lightning erupting from his skin as his wolf surged forward.
"You treacherous bastard," he snarled, fangs elongating. "We had a deal. I return your child unharmed, you surrender the throne. Or did your word as Alpha mean nothing?"
The air between them crackled with barely-leashed power. Jared didn't flinch. He simply tilted his head, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across his face as moonlight glinted off his canines.
"Oh little brother," Jared purred, rolling his shoulders as his wolf rose to the surface. His voice dropped to a velvet growl that raised the hairs on James' neck. "Did
