I locked eyes with him, and damn if it didn't twist something pathetic and hilarious in my gut.
That flicker in his stare? Not love. Just him crunching the numbers—pack alliances, fallout costs. Weighing if I was worth the snag.
But before he could spit a word, Clara barked orders. Her shadows yanked me out to the courtyard, slammed me down on that jagged gravel bed. "Douse her in chili burn—see if her yap still runs wild."
Ian watched it all unfold, brow just twitching. No bark, no bite to stop it.
I thrashed like a cornered fox, but one of her bruisers wrenched my jaw loose—pawed it open wide. Bowl after bowl of that fire-water flooded in, scorching trails down my throat.
My howl ripped the night—raw, sky-shattering.
"Ahh!!! Ian—you can't do me like this. You'll regret it..."
Clar
