EB

ad bowed. The silence stretched

ed anger. "Their disrespect is a stain on the Caldwell name

silver of my mask, erasing my features, leaving only a cold, inhuman facade.

or a wolfless stray. The only difference to me is

her status-it was all meaningless. This marriage was a move on a chessboard, a politic

ce betraying a hint of resignation. He ro

to the cold, silent trees. A qui

unfamiliar. Curiosity, perhaps. What kind of woman would be sent as a substitute bride? What

it came. It didn't matter. She wa

INE

er of my place in this family. My mother, Luna Evelyn Mathews, circled me, her eyes sh

ips curled in disgust. "So unseemly. Brennen has no sense of proporti

his head slightly, then his shoulders relaxed.

announced, a wave of relief w

o me, her expression shifting from annoyance to cold command. "Well, Adal

across the polished surface of the d

hem. On my father's relief. On my mother's satisfactio

ty of a business transacti

e in my heart turned t

by the pain in my chest, but it cut thro

N

ctly plucked eyebrows shot toward her hairline. It was a word t

on me with the full weight of his Alpha authority. "What did you say?" he

ng to force me to my knees. Cold sweat trickled down my back.

time. "I said no. I will not sign anything, and I will not

p, ugly sound. "You? A wolfless disgrace?

ed at the woman who gave me life and then discarded me. "I have the right because I am the one th

in my life, I sho

king at me now, not as a nuisance or a shad

that the broken, obedient

impending tirade. His voice was low, d

ike of agony through my side. This was my only chance.

ept from the

EB

las stood there, his expression

thin. The tapping of my fingers on the armre

nside. "There appears to be a..

eneath the mask. "

... Adaline Mcleod. She is re

Tap

gers s

te silence in the

frail, wolfless

time, I felt a flicker of someth

er of i