Cold sweat seeped from every pore as I forced each word through gritted teeth. "Her den-crystal holds the scent-marks of seventeen different males she's been intimate with. Just last week, she shared heat-chambers with three different wolves at the same time. Call your personal healer right now and ask him how dangerous that kind of reckless mating behavior truly is!"
"You're lying! This is nothing but slander and false accusations!"
After Raven Langford spat those words, tears began streaming down her face as she burrowed into Fenris Langford's embrace, seeking shelter like a wounded creature.
She sobbed against his chest. "Fenris, she's gone too far. She's using her position as a healer in this infirmary to forge false blood-scent assays and smear my name."
"You know the truth! I've been with you this entire time. How could I possibly have been with other males? There's no way I could be tainted with any blood-sickness!"
"Fenris, are you really going to let her torment me like this? You have to make her pay for what she's done..."
With each word of her accusation, Fenris's expression grew darker and more thunderous. His Alpha command rang through the corridor. "Drag her to the underground cold-stone holding cellar! Without my direct order, no one releases her!"
The enforcers seized my arms and hauled me toward the service passage.
I struggled against their grip, but they only tightened their hold until my bones ached. The pain was so intense that even the stone steps seemed to pitch and sway before my eyes.
"Fenris Langford! If you refuse to believe me, you'll regret it sooner than you think!"
Behind me, Raven's weeping only grew louder and more pitiful.
"Fenris, make her disappear! I can't bear to look at her anymore. If she finds out we're about to complete our mating ceremony, she'll surely try to destroy everything!"
Fenris's voice softened as he soothed her. "Hush now, little one. Trust me. I won't allow anything to disturb our bonding rite."
"When the time comes, you'll be the most beautiful mate any wolf has ever seen."
"..."
The heavy cellar door groaned shut behind me. Inside the holding chamber, the temperature plunged well below freezing. The bitter cold pierced through my flesh like countless ice needles, burrowing deep into my bones and marrow.
I curled up against the frost-covered storage units, pounding weakly against the door. "Fenris Langford, let me out!"
"This is unlawful imprisonment! You're breaking pack law and human authority codes! Release me now!"
The thin healer's garments I wore offered no protection against the bone-deep chill. My thoughts began to scatter and fade as the cold claimed more and more of my awareness.
I lost track of time in that frozen darkness. Then Fenris's voice cut through the haze. "Have you learned your lesson yet? Will you dare try this again?"
"Selene, don't think that bearing me a pup gives you any right to touch what belongs to me."
"Today, I'm teaching you exactly what happens to anyone who threatens what's mine."
Fenris stood just outside the cellar door, cradling Raven in his arms like a precious treasure.
She was wrapped in his heavy coat, her face still deathly pale, but beneath her lashes, a calculating gleam flickered in her eyes.
Raven pressed closer into his embrace. "Fenris, it's so cold here. Won't she freeze to death?"
I had seen her blood-scent assay results. I knew exactly how severe her condition truly was.
Rather than worrying about me, she ought to worry about herself—and how much time she had left among the living.
"But she's been so cruel to me, making me suffer so much. A little freezing is exactly what she deserves."
