Chapter 3

Ronan's POV

The woman in my border trap did not look like an attempted murderer. That meant absolutely nothing. The most dangerous people I had arrested rarely looked the part. They cried, smiled, lied, and waited for you to decide they were harmless. Mara Voss-Thorne simply looked exhausted.

Her dark hair clung to her face. Blood stained both bare feet, and one side of her ceremonial dress had torn from knee to thigh. A broken oath chain hung from her wrist. Grimm, my wolf, paced under my skin. Closer.

"No," I told him silently.

Mara's eyes narrowed. "Were you speaking to me?"

"My wolf."

"Did he have anything useful to add?"

"He usually doesn't."

Grimm snarled. I crouched beside the ward cable. Mara stiffened. "If you touch my ankle without warning, I will kick you." I looked at her bare, bleeding foot. "With which leg?"

"Whichever one remains available."

I stifled a laugh.

"I am going to release the trap. It will sting for a few seconds because the cable carries a low silver current."

"You built a trap that electrocutes visitors?"

"Only trespassers."

"That distinction is deeply comforting."

I pressed my thumb to the release rune. The cable loosened. Mara inhaled sharply but did not cry out. She immediately pulled her leg toward herself and checked the skin as if she trusted her own assessment more than mine, which was smart. Captain Tamsin arrived with four guards behind her.

"Warden."

Her eyes landed on Mara.

"That's her?"

"Apparently."

Mara looked from one of us to the other. "I am standing right here." Tamsin's mouth twitched.

"Ironwood says you assaulted Vivian Mercer, tried to poison her unborn child, broke lawful detention, and crossed a protected border while under Concord review."

"Efficient. I left less than four hours ago."

"Did you poison her?"

"No."

"Assault her?"

"I broke a cup. She survived."

"Why were you detained?"

Mara lifted the broken chain.

"My husband replaced me with her in front of the entire pack, ordered me to kneel, and discovered I no longer obey Alpha commands. The ceremony deteriorated after that."

Nobody spoke. Tamsin met my eyes. I looked at Mara.

"Say that again."

"Which part? My marriage had several low points tonight."

"The command."

The tired humor disappeared from her face.

"Gideon ordered the entire hall to kneel. They did. I didn't."

A guard behind Tamsin laughed nervously.

"Nobody ignores a direct Alpha command."

Mara looked at him. "That was also my understanding yesterday." I let a controlled amount of Alpha pressure into the clearing, not as a command but as a test. Tamsin's shoulders tightened, and the younger guards dropped their eyes automatically, while Mara simply stared at me. Nothing in her posture changed. Grimm stopped pacing and urged me to push harder, so I increased the pressure.

One guard shifted his weight backward. Mara lifted a brow. "If this is your idea of hospitality, Black Hollow's tourism numbers make sense." I shut the pressure off. Tamsin cursed quietly.

I carried enough Alpha blood to produce the pressure. I had refused the hereditary title that was supposed to come with it. Black Hollow chose a Warden to enforce its laws, not an Alpha to own its obedience.

I had spent eight years making sure Black Hollow stayed out of other territories' wars. Eight years convincing Alphas on every border that we were not a prize to be claimed, a weapon to be borrowed, or a territory to be controlled.

Signing protection papers for Mara Voss-Thorne would change that overnight.

The Concord would not see a Warden protecting a possible victim. They would see a territory hiding an accused criminal. Gideon would call it treason. Other Alphas would call it weakness. Every treaty I had built would become a question mark.

"We are taking her to the keep," I said.

Mara pushed herself upright using a tree. Her injured ankle buckled immediately. I reached for her elbow. She pulled back.

"I can walk."

"You can fall. Walking remains unproven."

"Do you always make this much effort to be irritating?"

"No. Some days it is effortless."

Tamsin coughed to hide a laugh. Mara tried again. This time she made two steps before pain drained the color from her face. I held out my arm instead of grabbing her.

"Your choice."

She looked at it. Then at me.

"You are very pleased with those two words."

"They solve several problems."

After a moment, she took my forearm. Heat moved through my palm so suddenly I almost stopped. Grimm surged forward with immediate recognition, and I looked down. The broken oath chain had brushed my skin. A red line appeared across my palm, as if the metal had burned me.

"I didn't do that," Mara said.

"I know."

"How?"

"Because if you could burn people by touching them, Ironwood's warrant would be longer."

She gave me a tired look. "Reassuring again." We reached the outer gate twenty minutes later. I had planned to question Mara in the border office. That changed when I saw the message waiting on the desk. The black Concord seal sat beside Gideon's crest. Tamsin read over my shoulder.

"He filed at central already."

"Too fast," I said.

Mara stood near the fire, wrapped in a guard's spare cloak. "What does it say?" I handed her the paper. She read silently. Her mouth became a hard line.

"He says I attempted to poison Vivian with moonroot."

"Did you have moonroot?"

"She did. She brought it to my cell."

"Can you prove that?"

"Not unless shattered pottery has developed a testimony."

After a moment, she added: "Then send me back."

Grimm slammed against my ribs. I ignored him.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you clearly do not believe me."

"Belief is for priests and gamblers. I prefer evidence."

"Gideon has a seal and six hundred witnesses. I have a broken chain and no shoes."

"You also crossed a river in winter while people chased you."

"That proves poor judgment, not innocence."

"Agreed."

Her eyes flashed with anger, which looked healthier on her than exhaustion. I stepped closer to the table and pointed at the warrant.

"Your husband filed a murder accusation before he could know whether you reached another territory. That means this paper was prepared before you escaped."

Mara went still. Tamsin straightened.

"You think he planned to accuse her either way?"

"I think I want to know why."

Mara stared at Gideon's signature.

"He needed the Concord to recognize Vivian quickly."

"Maybe."

"You have another theory."

"Several. None of them make me comfortable."

A knock sounded at the door. One of the gate guards entered. "Warden, a courier from Ironwood is asking for immediate transfer authority."

"Denied."

"He says Alpha Gideon invokes succession protection."

Mara laughed without humor. "Of course he does. The unborn heir makes everything an emergency."

"Put the courier in the east waiting room," I said. "No contact with the prisoner."

Mara's head snapped toward me. "Prisoner?"

"Until I know why you are here, yes."

"Then stop pretending this is sanctuary."

"I have not offered sanctuary."

The room temperature seemed to drop. She released the cloak and walked toward me despite the pain in her ankle.

"If you intend to hand me back, do it now."

"I said no such thing."

"You keep people in cages while deciding whether they deserve freedom. I have had enough men making decisions about my body for one night."

That hit harder than it should have. I lowered my voice. "You will have a guarded room, a healer, food, and a lock you can open from the inside. You will not leave the keep until I know whether someone is hunting a fugitive or protecting an attempted murderer."

"And if I refuse?"

I let my gaze hold hers.

"Then Tamsin will follow you until your ankle gives out, Maeve will insult both of us, and I will still investigate."

Tamsin nodded. "Accurate." Mara's mouth twitched despite herself. A sharp crack exploded behind me. I moved on instinct. I hit Mara around the waist and drove us both to the floor as a silver bolt punched through the window. Glass rained over the room. Tamsin drew her blade.

"Down!"

A second bolt struck the wall where Mara's head had been. She was beneath me, eyes wide, one hand against my chest.

"Still think I'm the dangerous one?" she breathed.

I looked at the bolt buried in the wood. The shaft carried Black Hollow fletching. Someone inside my own territory had just tried to kill her.

"No," I said.

Then I looked toward the shattered window.

"Now I think you're the target."