Victoria stared at him, her blood running cold. This was not the dominant Alpha she knew. His tolerance for Thea felt like a lethal threat to her own standing.
"Are you not being too merciful toward a rogue?" she asked, her voice laced with a bitter, jealous edge.
"Victoria, I have seen the shadows of the past within The City of Cycles," Nathan said, his gaze distant. "If I hadn't deceived her to harvest her essence, her life would have been a high-flying hunt, far better than the cage I built for her. We have failed her, Victoria. She outsmarted me this time, and I will let the debt stand."
Victoria’s hands clenched into claws beneath her sleeves. "And if she hunts us again? If she seeks to tear out our throats?"
"I will not give her the opening to harm you," Nathan vowed, though the
