"Tell me where you hid the pup, or I'll have your name carved off the recruit rolls." Rayne's voice came through the cell bars like a blade under my ribs.
I kept my hands flat on the metal table. The cuffs bit my wrists, and dried blood pulled tight beneath them whenever I moved.
"You dragged me out of the mud ten minutes ago," I said. "Now you're threatening to erase me? Your camp has a strange welcome policy."
"You entered under a dead woman's name."
"Then your dead woman has excellent combat scores."
His jaw tightened.
Good. I needed him angry enough to stop searching the tree line. Every second he kept me here was another second between Cole's hunters and the place where I'd hidden the pup.
Rayne shoved a thin metal folder through the bars. It scraped across the table and stopped against my knuckles.
Cole's black-wax seal stared up at me.
My stomach dropped, but I didn't let my fingers twitch.
"Extradition order," Rayne said. "Signed by Alpha Cole Brandt. He wants you returned to the eastern territory alive if possible."
"And if not?"
"The order doesn't say."
"That means he wants me dead before I can talk."
"You were convicted of desertion, theft of military supplies, and aiding a forbidden bloodline."
The last charge landed harder than the cuffs.
I looked at the folder, then back at him. "Do you always repeat accusations before checking whether they're true?"
"Do you always lie before anyone asks a question?"
"Only when the question comes from a man who keeps silver needles in his coat."
His gaze dipped to the inside pocket of his black uniform.
He didn't deny it.
Rayne Carter had taken off his gloves, but mud still stained his hands from pinning me down in the training yard. That same mud streaked my armor.
His scent filled the narrow space between us—cedar smoke, iron, and something sharp that made my wolf slam against my ribs.
Mine.
The word rose from the bond before I could crush it.
Rayne's nostrils flared.
He'd felt it too.
"Take off the armor," he said.
"No."
"That wasn't a request."
"Then learn to phrase your orders better."
The guard behind him shifted. Metal clicked against metal.
Rayne didn't look away from me. "You have a hidden compartment under the left side of your breastplate."
My pulse kicked.
He saw it.
Of course he had. He'd thrown me face-first into the mud, searched my boots and belt, and dragged me here before the pup could cry again.
But he hadn't found the pouch beneath my ribs.
Not yet.
"It's a support plate," I said.
"Your support plate breathes?"
My mouth went dry.
The pup had made one tiny sound when Rayne pinned me down. I'd felt the movement against my side. Somehow the camp noise had swallowed it.
Somehow.
"You hear things that aren't there."
"I hear a heartbeat under your armor."
"That's mine."
"No."
The quiet certainty in that one word scraped my nerves raw.
Rayne unlocked the cell door.
"Stay out," I snapped at the guard.
"Captain—"
"Out."
The guard hesitated, then backed away. The door groaned open, and Rayne stepped inside.
The cell was barely wide enough for both of us. His boots stopped between my knees. Heat rolled off him through the cold bars and stone.
I hated that my body noticed.
I hated that my wolf lifted her head.
"Back up," I warned.
"You don't give orders here."
"I just did."
His hand closed around the front of my armor. The leather creaked beneath his fingers. He didn't yank. He didn't need to. The pressure reminded me who owned the weapons, the keys, and the door.
"Tell me where the pup is," he said. "I'll keep Cole from taking you."
"You can't keep him from anything. His order is in your hand."
"I can delay it."
"For how long?"
"Long enough to know whether you're a spy."
"And if I am?"
His thumb moved over the edge of my breastplate, searching for the hidden seam.
The touch was practical. My body didn't care.
"Then you'll answer for the bodies you brought into my camp," he said.
"I haven't brought anyone here."
"You brought trouble. Same thing."
"Funny. I thought that was your job."
His eyes dropped to my mouth.
Only for half a second.
It was enough.
My wolf pushed harder against my skin, furious at the pull of him and even more furious that he had me chained.
Rayne's fingers tightened.
"Don't look at me like that," I said.
"Like what?"
"Like you're trying to decide whether to arrest me or kiss me."
The guard outside sucked in a breath.
Rayne's gaze snapped back to mine. "You think too highly of yourself."
"Your hand is still on my chest."
He dropped it.
The loss of his heat was worse than the touch.
Rayne stepped back and drew the silver needle from his coat. It was thin enough to vanish between two fingers, with a dark thread of light running through it.
My wrists went cold.
"You don't need that," I said.
"Military code permits a truth test when an infiltrator refuses a direct question."
"Military code also requires a witness, a signed charge, and a medical officer."
"I'm your commanding officer."
"You're not a doctor."
"No. I'm worse."
He caught my left hand and turned it palm-up.
I pulled. His grip didn't move.
Warmth traveled from his skin into mine. The bond answered with a vicious pulse that shot up my arm and cracked through my chest.
Rayne went still.
The silver needle flashed blue-white between us.
His eyes dropped to our joined hands.
"What the hell was that?" the guard called.
"Nothing," I said.
Rayne's thumb pressed against my pulse. "Say it again."
"Let go."
"Not that."
The needle's light crawled over my wrist, forming a thin ring beneath my skin. A mark. His mark.
Rayne stared at it as if I'd put a knife to his throat.
"No," he whispered.
I laughed once, without humor. "That's what you said three years ago."
His head snapped up. "You know me?"
"You knew me."
The cell seemed to shrink around us.
"Your name was Mara Voss," he said.
"That was the name you rejected in front of the entire northern court."
His grip finally loosened.
I pulled my hand free and shoved the sleeve over the mark. "You stood beside Cole and told them I wasn't your mate. You said I was a traitor's daughter and not worth your claim."
"I was nineteen."
"You were old enough to make me kneel while you rejected me."
Pain crossed his face, quick and naked. Then it vanished behind the captain's mask.
"You died," he said.
"Mara Voss did."
"Who are you?"
"The woman you should've protected before Cole put a death sentence on her."
Rayne moved toward me again. This time, I stood before he could reach me. The chain snapped tight between my wrists, dragging my arms down, but I kept my chin up.
"Don't come closer."
"You changed your face, your name, and your scent."
"I learned from the best."
"Cole said the bloodline was destroyed."
"Cole lies when the truth costs him power."
The pup shifted beneath my breastplate.
Rayne heard it.
His expression changed—not anger now. Recognition. The silver needle burned brighter, and the mark under my sleeve answered it.
"Open the compartment," he said.
"No."
"You just admitted the pup is real."
"I admitted nothing."
"You brought a forbidden bloodline into my camp."
"I brought a child away from the man who ordered her killed."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Rayne's face went hard. "Her?"
I cursed under my breath.
He stepped close enough that his breath touched my cheek. His hand braced against the table beside my hip, boxing me in without touching me.
"Is she yours?" he asked.
"Move."
"Answer me."
"You gave up the right to ask about anything that belongs to me."
His eyes held mine. "Did I?"
The bond pulled tight between us, hot as a wire. My wolf wanted to lean into him. I wanted to bite him.
Outside, a horn sounded from the eastern wall.
Once.
Twice.
Rayne's head turned toward the noise.
"Cole's hunters," I said. "They found the trail."
He looked back at me. "Where is the pup?"
"Safe. For the next few minutes."
"If you care whether she lives, you'll tell me."
"If you care whether your camp survives, you'll get me out of this cell."
Another horn blast shook the corridor. Boots thundered past the bars.
Rayne reached for the keys at his belt.
I caught his wrist with my chained hands. His skin burned against my fingers, and the mate mark flared under my sleeve.
"One wrong move," I said, "and I lead Cole straight to her."
His gaze dropped to my hand, then rose to my face.
"You don't trust me."
"You rejected me."
"I didn't know who you were."
"You knew enough to break me."
He leaned closer. His mouth hovered a breath from mine, but he didn't kiss me. The restraint felt more dangerous than a touch.
"Then give me one chance to fix it," he said.
"You want a chance? Choose."
His brow tightened. "Between what?"
"Between Cole's order and the mate you threw away."
The cell door slammed open behind him.
A guard stumbled in, pale and bleeding. "Captain, the eastern patrol breached the lower gate. They're asking for Mara Voss by name."
Rayne went perfectly still.
The guard lifted a shaking hand toward me. "And Alpha Cole sent a second order. He says if she refuses to surrender, kill the pup first."
Rayne's eyes locked on mine. The mate mark flared again, bright enough to show through my sleeve.
"Tell me where she is," he said, reaching for the keys, "or tell me why Cole thinks that pup carries my—"