Chapter 12 · The Blood Pact

"Put him down, Rayne. Right now."

My voice cracked across the command tent, but it didn't move him.

Rayne stood three steps away with the pup tucked against his chest, one broad hand cupping the back of the little wolf's head. The child had stopped crying. That scared me more than the crying had.

His golden eyes stayed fixed on Rayne's face.

Rayne looked at me over the pup's shoulder. His jaw was tight. A smear of blood marked his cheek, bright against the dirt and cold sweat.

"You want me to put him down while Cole's guns are aimed at this camp?" he asked.

"I want you to stop holding him like you own him."

"I don't own him."

"You said he was yours. In front of your whole command."

His fingers flexed against the pup's back. The motion was careful, almost gentle. It still made my stomach twist.

"I said he might be mine."

"You said it like a verdict."

"Because if he's mine, Cole will never let us leave alive."

There it was. The truth he had been trying not to say.

The pup belonged to me. That was all Rayne knew.