GRAHAM POV
My mouth was dry.
Dry like sandpaper. Like every word had to scrape its way out of my throat and take a piece of me with it.
Nausea sat low in my stomach and refused to move.
I deserved it.
I deserved worse.
Fuck. She should have rejected me when I asked her to. My only hope would be if Aria would allow a rejection before killing me, a bit of merci, even if I didn’t deserve that. So she could live a long and happy life with our pups. Find another mate, a better one.
The council members’ eyes burned into my back from behind the glass. I could feel them even without turning. Judgment. Disgust. The cold interest of people deciding exactly how a man should die once he had finished being useful.
And Alpha Alaric—
Fuck.
Alpha Alaric was worse.
He sat there with Aria in his
