Chapter 4

Rayne's pupils narrowed.

"That's old silver damage," he said.

"Congratulations. You can see."

"Who marked you?"

I laughed once. It came out rough. "You already know."

"I want you to say it."

"So you can send Cole a nice report?"

His grip shifted from my hand to my wrist. The chain between us pulled tight. "Answer me."

"No."

The needle touched my skin again. This time, he dragged it along the inside of my wrist.

The pain wasn't deep. That was the worst part. It was slow and deliberate, a warning instead of an injury.

I stared at the collar of his uniform. "You're wasting your time."

"You don't know what I'm doing."

"You're trying to make me afraid."

"Are you?"

"Of you? Not yet."

His thumb pressed against my pulse.

The bond snapped tight.

For one ugly second, I wanted to lean into him. I wanted his mouth on mine just to stop the ache under my skin.

I yanked my hand back. The chain cut into both our fingers.

Rayne's face changed. Not softer. Never that. Just sharper.

"What was that?"

"You losing your grip?"

"The bond."

The word landed between us.

He knew.

I had spent three years pretending my mate bond was dead. Cole had torn my mating ribbon from my throat in front of his pack, called me defective, and ordered the mark burned out of my skin.

It hadn't died. It had waited.

Now it had chosen Rayne Carter—the Ironfang commander, the Alpha who could return me to Cole with one signature.

"You don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"I can smell you."

"You can smell blood."

"I can smell my mate."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Rayne leaned closer. His breath brushed my cheek, warm and controlled. Too close for a man interrogating a prisoner.

"Say it," he said.

"No."

"Say what you are."

"A recruit."

"Try again."

"A prisoner."

His hand caught my chin. Not hard enough to bruise. Hard enough to stop me from turning away.

"You were rejected," he said.

The words struck the old wound beneath my throat. My wolf snarled.

"Careful."

"The scar is fresh under the armor. Silver burned through the mating lock. Cole did it."

"You know nothing about Cole."

"I know his signature. I know what he does to women who embarrass him."

"Then stop helping him."

His thumb rested beneath my jaw. "Give me a name."

"You already have one."

"Your real name."

"Sera Vaughn."

A guard shifted outside the cell.

Rayne's eyes flicked toward the door, then returned to mine. "That isn't the name on your enlistment papers."

"The dead recruit's name wasn't mine."

"So you admit the fraud."

"I admit your paperwork is terrible."

His mouth tightened. He released my chin and crossed to the table.

I flexed my fingers. His heat stayed on my skin.

Rayne opened the folder and pulled out a second sheet. "Sera Vaughn. Eastern territory. Former member of Blackridge pack. Publicly cast out by Alpha Cole Brandt. Wanted for desertion."

"That's a lot of words for a man who claims he wants one answer."

"Where is the pup?"

"Not here."

"Wrong."

"Search the camp."

"I have."

He came around the table and stopped behind me. His hand closed over the top edge of my breastplate.

"Then you know where it is."

"I know where I left it."

"You carried it into my camp."

"I carried my armor into your camp."

"Your armor has a hidden pouch."

The buckle beneath my ribs pressed into my skin.

The pup wasn't inside anymore. I'd moved it before I came through the gates. But the scent remained in the wool lining, buried under ash and oil.

So did the bloodied boot. I'd cut it from the pup's tiny foot after Cole's men wounded it. The smell helped me find the hiding place whenever the wind shifted.

Rayne's fingers hooked beneath the plate.

I drove my elbow backward.

He caught it before it reached him. His forearm locked around mine and dragged me against his chest.

My spine hit solid heat. The chain snapped against the table.

"Get off me."

"Tell me where it is."

"Move."

"You're protecting an illegal bloodline."

"I'm protecting a child."

The words escaped before I could stop them.

Rayne went still.

I closed my eyes for one second. "Damn it."

His mouth hovered near my ear. Each breath touched my skin.

"A child," he said.

"Don't ask me anything else."

"How old?"

"No."

"Who are the parents?"

"No."

"Is the child yours?"

I twisted against him. His hold tightened, but he didn't hurt me. That almost made it worse.

"You don't get to touch me and question me like you own the answer."

"You walked into my camp carrying a secret that can start a war."

"Then arrest me for the war. Leave the child out of it."

"I can't."

"You can. You're the commander."

"Not if Cole's already inside my territory."

That stopped me.

Rayne released my arm and stepped away. The sudden loss of his heat left my skin cold.

He drew a knife from his belt—not the silver needle, but a narrow black blade—and cut through the chain at my wrists. The broken links dropped onto the table.

I rubbed the red marks around my skin. "What are you doing?"

"Changing the rules."

"You don't have rules. You have toys and questions."

"I have one offer."

He picked up the blood-smeared needle and held it between us. "Bring me the pup before Cole's trackers find it, and I'll put the child under Ironfang protection."

I stared at him. "And me?"

"You're still wanted for desertion."

"So you save the child and hand me over."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

His gaze dropped to the scar beneath my throat. When he looked back, his jaw was tight.

"If I wanted to hand you to Cole, Sera, you'd already be in chains on the north road."

The use of my name hit harder than it should have.

"Why protect me?"

"I don't know yet."

"That's honest. Almost charming."

"Don't mistake honesty for kindness."

"I wouldn't dare."

He moved to the cell door and called, "Mara."

The guard answered from outside. "Commander?"

"No one enters this cell. No one reports to Cole."

"But the prisoner—"

"Is under my authority."

Rayne unlocked the door. The guard's boots shifted closer.

I stepped between Rayne and the opening. "If you lock me back up, the pup dies before sunrise."

His eyes dropped to my mouth, then lifted again. "Then you have until sunrise to decide whether you trust me."

"I don't."

"Good. Trust gets people killed."

He reached past me and pushed the door wider. Beyond him, two armed guards waited in the corridor.

Rayne leaned close enough that his breath warmed my cheek. "Now tell me where you hid the child, or tell me which of my men is working for Cole—"