Chapter 2

I had just turned toward him when the crystal communication stone at my waist flared.

A rare message from Kieran: *Get some rest.*

I stared at it and found it almost funny.

He'd never once sent me a message like that before.

But today he had.

Was it because I'd kept Wren?

Or because he'd finally realized that the Leona who "would never touch them" might actually be ready to?

I didn't reply.

The lamps outside the window went out.

The whole castle fell quiet.

Vera had moved in. Wren had moved in.

The castle had finally turned into a cheap inn.

Anyone could stay.

I crooked a finger at Wren, then turned off the light.

A smile curved at my lips—one I couldn't even see myself.

Kieran thought I would guard my purity forever?

He really was wrong.

…

Early the next morning, the ache in my lower back was still there.

When I came downstairs, Wren was in the kitchen helping the servants prepare breakfast.

When he saw me, he flushed so deeply he nearly dropped the spatula.

I smiled.

Where had last night's seductive prowess gone?

I had just sat down at the table when Kieran came down.

"Up so early?" He took the seat across from me, that unreadable smile still tugging at his mouth. "How was last night?"

Before I could answer, the front door swung open.

Griffin charged in first. "Alpha! Who won the bet?"

Griffin was one of Kieran's most trusted pack members.

Several werewolves followed at his heels, each shouting over the others:

"I bet she wouldn't last till noon—two hundred thousand on the line!"

"I bet the Luna threw the Beta out last night. Three to one, Alpha holding the bank!"

The voices died abruptly. They'd just spotted me.

The grins curdled into awkwardness.

"Luna… morning," they offered.

Kieran lifted the wine at his elbow and took a sip.

His face was relaxed.

As though this wager weren't his pack members using his Luna for sport, but rather some triumph he ought to be proud of.

"Want some breakfast?" I said. "It's just ready."

I rose, walked toward the kitchen, and said to Wren, "You should go."

Wren paused, then untied his apron and walked out.

The castle door shut behind him.

The hall went quiet for two seconds.

One of the pack members deliberately lowered his voice. "See? She sent him off after all."

Griffin laughed. "What did you expect? You think the Alpha can't read the Luna's little schemes?"

"The Alpha really knows how to break her in," another said, all admiration. "A mate has to be like the Luna—pure, clean, devoted to her Alpha alone."

Kieran sat at the table, breakfast finished.

He listened to all of it with a faint smile on his lips.

He looked thoroughly gratified.

I exhaled and stepped out of the kitchen.

Kieran and I started speaking at almost the same instant.

"Come with me to old Alpha's for supper tonight—"

"This afternoon, let's go to the Council of Elders to dissolve the Mate Bond—"