on Hellb

hypocrisy. My reflection stared back from the family portrait, a ghost haunting the space between my father's iron will and my mother's b

rom the hallwa

ence after dark, every guard trained to move like

rass handle turned with a faint click that echoed the

was

gap, a silhouette against the dim corridor light, wearing one of my shirts that fell to her k

nition. The air grew thick, heavy with her scent-wild honey and something clean, like o

ice was small, but it cut th

quor. It burned, but not en

inside. "I was

my voice flat. "Go

r-bound books, the unlit hearth, the portrait she couldn't possibly understand. They landed on

where y

I work. Now, get out." The growl was there, a low rumble under the words, t

ss Aubusson rug in the center of the room. She looked so fragile, so break

with a defiance that should have been suicidal.

sts clenching at my sides. "I am exact

ng, infuriating thing. She sat down on the rug, right in the middle of the

her demand from the solar

g at the inside of my ribs, not to attack her, but to obey her. To lay at her feet. The con

alread

ee long strides, my shadow falling over her. I meant to haul her to her feet, to drag her

er into my

was a tidal wave. Honey. Storms. And her. Just her. It flooded my senses, silencing the voice of reason, amplifying the ho

ad hurts," she mumbled against my skin, he

" I said, my ow

ere unfocused, her brow furrowed in pain. And then, in a movement

, frustra

the artery. A hair's brea

i

very vein in my body. My muscles seized. My spine arched. A sound was ripped from my throa

single, deafening word that

in

nd. Her body in my arms was no longer a burden; it was a claim. The urge to turn, to slam her against

, finally seeing the predator

h a speed that was no longer human, my heart hammering a frantic, brutal rhythm against my ribs. I h

didn't see her face, didn't dare to look. I slammed the door, the sound of the heavy oak boo

sliding home was the

fl

ring at the edges. I couldn't go back to my study. I couldn't be near anything that was m

lling of stone and old wax. I slammed the door behind me, ramming the thick iron bolt acros

e her. Claim

silent, watching saint

My hands, trembling, found the hidden seam in the marble. I pried it open. Inside, nestled

n designed to kill the beast within.

my teeth and threw my head back, pouring the v

t scream. Black spots danced in my vision. The wolfsbane attacked my senses, my strength, turning my own Lycan nature against me. My wolf howled in outr

blood cooled to embers, then to ash. The all-consuming need to clai

t felt worse than the pain. I looked at my hands. They wer

longer a choice.

ill coating my tongue. I spoke the words into the cold,

raw whisper. "Arrange the tra

The scent of wolfsbane hung in the air, a chemical shroud. On my face was not grief, not anger,