Chapter 36

• “I know how it looks. I had to make you fight back, and I knew that was a surefire way. I had to see. This changes things, Lorey, don’t you understand? Our packs are verging on a war where more than ever, my mate has to be able to stand by my side and fight worse than us. You can absorb my gifts, which means you can absorb any you come up against, turn them into something more powerful, and use them with control. You were right when you said I made a choice, and I did, but this is how we change it. My father has to see that you’re not a black mark on our people if the Fates gave you a gift like this. There’s hope that I can have them accept you into the pack and lay claim to what the Fates ordained. You as my mate, as we always should have been.” The muscle spasm in his jaw, the flicker of his eyes on mine as he begs me to believe, has me spiraling.
• I shake my head at him, so consumed with mistrust, my mind a flurry of conflicting emotions, backing into a corner until I hit the edge of the bed. It startles me, and I seem to snap out of my intense focus on him and look around for the first time, really seeing the room.
• There has been an epic battle in this room. It’s complete devastation. Worse than the carnage at the orphanage, I gasp as my eyes follow the gouges and claw marks running not just across the floor and walls but ceilings too.