I finally understood. All her kindness toward me these past six months had been an act of endurance. She had been waiting for me to lower my guard completely before striking.
But I never imagined she would drag my foster-dam into this, making her suffer alongside me.
Darian Frostveil fixed me with a gaze full of hatred. Then he rose to his feet and limped toward me, one leg dragging uselessly. He drove his fist into my face.
"Kael Nightthorne, you dared to break my leg and turn me into a cripple. I'm going to torture you and your foster-dam slowly, bit by bit. Just you wait!"
I glared at them both with fury burning in my eyes. "Selene Frostveil, kidnapping us and bringing us here by force is a violation of pack law. You know my temper and my methods. Once I get out of here, I will reject our bond and leave you with nothing—"
"Ha! Kael Nightthorne, oh Kael Nightthorne." She laughed without a trace of fear. "I stopped being afraid of you long ago. Over these past six months, I've already seized control of your pack. Even the Pack Elders have been bought off and now stand with me."
I narrowed my eyes at Selene. "What do you mean by that?"
Selene smiled radiantly and clapped her hands. Through the door walked a group of familiar faces—my own Pack Elders, every one of them.
"You? What are you all doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're here to overthrow you. Can't you see?"
"Selene Frostveil, how dare you?"
"When your Frostveil bloodline fell into ruin years ago, who was it that reached out and saved your entire house? And now, for the sake of some young rogue, you scheme against me like this?"
If I weren't bound to this chair, I would have lunged forward and killed this treacherous pair with my own claws.
A wave of rage surged through my chest, refusing to subside.
The angrier I became, the more excited Selene and Darian grew.
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention something." Selene's smile widened. "We're in the Warded Sea-Den now—neutral ground in open waters. Pack law doesn't apply here. If you want to save your meddlesome foster-dam, you'll have no choice but to play our dominance wager to the very end!"
I stared at the mate I had once cherished above all others, and a wave of bitter self-mockery washed through me.
This was the female I had loved with everything I had. She had turned herself into a blade and driven it straight through my heart.