stood there staring at the wood. My skin was still

I hissed at t

my face was pale, and the bruises on my neck-the ones left by the rogues and the months of Piper's cruelty-stoo

head to be taken! He was the reason I had b

y voice was shaking, but my eyes were burning with a

w me whole. It was a trap. Everything in this palace was a trap designed to make me forget that I was a pri

oor swung open

arp face and her hair pulled back into a tight, painful-looking bun walked in. She

er woman said. Her voice was like sandpaper. She didn't bow.

ying to find the voice of the

as if I smelled like trash, "are a mess. The Alpha King expects you downstairs in an

napped. "I'm not a circus ani

are covered in the filth of the Hillstone Pack. If you show up looking like a beggar, it re

" I screamed as the

nstinctively shoved her back. She s

le stepped forward and s

the side, and the copper taste of blood fi

"But to us, you are the daughter of a traitor. Don't think for a second that those fancy s

open cuts on my back. The maids were rough. They scrubbed my skin with harsh sponges, pulling at the tangles in my hair as if they were trying to

a deep, blood-red silk that clung to every curve I had. It was beau

e ordered, pointi

hed black armor stood at every corner. As I reached the bottom, I saw a group of men standing near the entrance to

art s

n the center of t

powerful. He was leaning in, whispering something

left my lips befo

face went through a dozen emotions in three seconds-

eyes roaming over my red dress. "What are you

ere, you idiot," a voic

ngly handsome in a black suit that made his eyes look like molten gold.

away, but his gr

is voice dropping to a dangerous o

drop on the marble floor. Jude looked like he was about to faint

possible. She's... she was my mate. But

mate, Jude! And you watched while Piper treated me like

whispered, looking around nerv

off him was so intense that Jude actually took a step back. "The law says that if a man fails

d. "She asked for

o Piper Gilbert's bed," I spat, my voice cracking wit

as a history with you. That's unfortunate for you. Because now, e

his voice trembling. "I didn't kno

ht at dinner. You will stand behind Louisa's chair, and you will witness exactly wha

whispered, his fa

ynolds c

ike a whipped dog. I stood there, my breathing heavy

he words died in my throat. He was looking down at me, and for a split second, the coldn

murmured, his thumb brushing against the

was betraying me, leaning into his warmth. "

g on his lips. "Hate is a very passi

toward the dining ha

ed, looking him in the eye. "Wh

he little maid they stepped on is now the Queen of this palace. And because I want Piper Gil

walked into the dining hall where Jude stood waiting with trembling h

a guard entered

bert and his daughter, Piper, are requesting an audience.

cloth so hard my kn

at chilled me to the bone. "Tell them to come.

e