Kael barely caught a wink of sleep after everything that went down in the hallway. It wasn’t the rogues, and it wasn’t Lucien’s threat keeping him awake. It was her—Liana. The memory of her pressed against the wall beneath him wouldn’t leave him alone. Her racing heartbeat, that wild scent, the way instinct nearly swallowed him whole. Worst of all, his wolf kept repeating the same claim: Mine. Not once. Not for a second. Over and over, like a mantra.
His restraint almost snapped. If he'd actually lost control, he would have marked her, claimed her—and kicked off the very war he’d spent years trying to prevent.
Long before sunrise, Kael stood alone in his office, staring out the huge windows that overlooked Silver Crest territory. Rain still hammered the mountains, storm clouds squeezing
