Chapter 7 · The Blood Trail

"Commander, the order has your seal on it. Surrender Sera Vaughn before sundown, or Ironfang becomes an enemy of the Eastern Dominion."

The officer read the words like he wanted the whole camp to hear them twice.

They did.

Every soldier in the yard turned toward me. Chains bit into my wrists as two guards dragged me out of the holding shed and shoved me into the snow-packed square.

Rayne stood on the command steps with the extradition order in one hand. His black coat was open at the throat, exposing the hard line of his neck and the fresh red mark beneath his jaw—the place where my scent had hit him yesterday and nearly made him lose control in front of half his army.

His eyes dropped to the chain between my wrists.

Then to my face.

"Who brought that order?" he asked.

The officer lifted his chin. "Captain Darrin, under direct authority of Alpha Cole Brandt."

My stomach clenched.

Cole.

Rayne's fingers tightened around the paper. "Cole doesn't command Ironfang."

"He commands the eastern border." The officer stepped closer. "And the woman you're hiding is his legal property."

A few soldiers shifted.

I laughed once.