Lyra couldn’t remember the last time she had been allowed to hope something good would happen without immediately punishing herself for it.
The feeling rose anyway, sharp and unbidden, as she watched the two men circle one another in the arena below. One of them promised to save her, the other promised to ruin her and everything she held dear. Still, hope coiled in her chest. It was bright and dangerous, and with every step Kade took toward Merrow, it grew harder to contain.
She sat rigid next to the Alpha’s empty seat, her hands clasped in her lap as her nails bit into her palms through the silk they’d forced her into that morning. Thin crescents of blood bloomed in her hands before she noticed how hard she was clenching them. The guards flanked the dais, their presence a silent remin
