ra

. He might not have known enough about herbs to identify Blightbane, but his Alpha senses had clea

, he hurled the bowl against the stone floor. It shat

composure completely gone. "Garret, I swear, I didn'

. He pointed a trembling finger at her. "Th

, her words tumbling over each other. "She was so shy, I th

ng my eyes lowered and my breathing uneven. I needed to look fr

on the bed. His jaw worked as if he were struggling to decide where to direc

voice shaking the small room. "Even if she encouraged you, where was your own d

d, his palm open,

ction flashed across Deb

t perfectly. I let my body go limp and tilted my head, not away from the blow, but into

struck the bedpost, the half-healed wound at the back of my skull split open

pillows, my eyes fluttering. "Father... please, don't..

d hand stopped, then slowly lowered. The fury on his fac

red at the blood. The satisfacti

momentum, checked by the sight of an inju

d, his voice rough with a str

er feet, eager to esc

Garret cut

ctor will examine the soup. We will get to the bottom of that. But f

nger narrowing into something colder and more deliberate. Whatever he thought of the soup, the public incident

quickly began giving her version of events, describing me as a shameless woman who had thro

ies, my heart beating a slow, steady

ode with rage as he usually would. Instead, he wa

low and serious. "What is the real

ormally accepted Debora's version of events without asking for hers. Thi

But Debora's word was no