Tyler felt a surge of pride at that. At how much his mate had clearly gotten under his uncle’s skin and proved everyone wrong. She truly was stronger than them all.
“Is that why you put the bounty on her?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“If I couldn’t bring you down in one fell swoop, I’d settle for picking you apart piece by piece.” His uncle took a step toward him, and Tyler met it with his own step closer. “Starting with the woman you were so clearly besotted with.
“With her dead, you would slowly begin to crumble. And the rogues attacking your villages would further aid my goal of making you look weak. If you couldn’t defend your villages, let alone your own betrothed, then what kind of king would you be?”
“And yet, even now, we are putting an end to your rogue attacks. And
