Alaric
I had seen blood-soaked battlefields, men screaming as teeth and claws tore out their innards. I had stood knee-deep in death and never once faltered. But the moment I rushed to the bed and saw her—my mate—bound like an animal, unconscious, with her wrists raw from the rope, panic unlike anything I had ever known clawed through me.
My hands trembled as I reached for her, lifting her fragile body into my arms. She felt weightless, as if she had been carrying burdens far heavier than her own flesh. Her skin was pale, cheek bruised like she had been struck across it hard, and her head lolled against my chest as though she no longer had the strength to hold it up.
No. No, I would not lose her.
I ripped the knots free, untying her wrists and ankles with a speed born of desperation. T
