Chapter 16 · Selling the Bride to the Moon

"Tell me everything about Vera," I said, "or I walk out that gate right now."

Kael's jaw locked. We were still standing over the burn marks where the rogue wolf had bled out ten minutes ago. The smell of scorched fur clung to my coat. My mother's ring sat heavy in my pocket, the metal still warm.

"You can't leave," he said.

"Watch me."

He moved faster than I could track. One second I was turning toward the gate. The next his hand was around my wrist, not rough but absolute.

"You don't understand what's outside that gate," he said. His voice dropped lower, that wolf-edge scraping under every word. "Ronan's people are watching. They know something came through tonight. If you leave now, they'll assume you're running because you're guilty."

"Guilty of what?" I yanked my arm. He didn't let go. "Your dead wolf brought me my mother's ring.