The night air was thick with tension.
Gaius had left her chained to the wall ring after the meeting, angrier than she had seen him in weeks. He had paced the chambers for hours, muttering threats against the Mad King, before finally dragging her to the bed for another brutal “reclaiming.” When he finished, he chained her back to the wall with shorter slack than usual and stormed out to meet with his warriors, slamming the door behind him.
Maisie curled on the cold stone floor, body throbbing. The fresh bruises from his hands burned, but her wolf was wide awake, pacing restlessly inside her chest.
He is close, it whispered, stronger than ever. Tonight.
She didn’t dare hope. Hope had only ever brought more pain. Yet the mate pull hummed beneath her skin like a live wire, electric and ins
