The fires roared. The circle seethed with want. Every wolf shifted, straining for a better angle. Thick with musk and smoke, the air was knife-edged with the only thing that could quiet it—blood or s*x.
Rael pushed Vera forward, his hand pressing against her throat like a trophy he’d torn from the wilds. She stumbled, knees weak, the stone biting into her bare thighs. Gasps from the crowd.
“She is mine,” Rael said, voice hard as obsidian. “Blood and bond, by birthright and by battle. But tonight, you will see that I own her for keeps.”
The crowd howled half in approval, half in a low growling murmur.
Vera’s heart drummed in her ears. Instinctively she pushed herself to her knees again, seeking some small measure of dignity, but Rael’s hand flattened against her throat, unyielding.
“S
