I watch the light from the torches shimmer across the palace walls. The mate bond thrums hot in my chest, unrelenting.
“I haven’t rejected her,” I admit finally, my voice rough.
For the first time tonight, Leon’s composure cracks. His brows lift, surprise evident on his face.
“You haven’t?”
“No.” The word is a growl. “Not yet.”
There’s a pause, heavy and weighted. Then, quieter:
“What are you trying to do, Seth?”
I don’t answer. Because I don’t know. The mate bond claws at me persistently, demanding something I can’t give.
When I first met Selene, she was on her knees in the throne room, bloodied and half-unconscious. Her alpha had dragged her forward as a pawn in his scheme, planning to use her and her friend as scapegoats. Traitors, he’d called them, conspiring to aid the now-Que
