Page 20 of Claimed By Blood

Yet, for him, it is. Draven was never going to be the kind of man to declare his undying love for me on the spot. He exists on the outskirts of the pack—of life—looking in. Where most people have positive emotions, or a softer side, there is only ice.

Time will tell if he’ll let me thaw it. For now, I’m happy with the deadly protectiveness he surrounds me with and the sense of safety that comes with that.

His knowing look sends a pulse of wetness straight to the spot between my thighs.

“I suppose we should make sure those guards think we were just fucking like bunnies.” He prowls close to me once again. “Sink those fangs in me, doll. We want to be convincing.”

CHAPTERSIX

EVELYN

I’ve been waitingfor Morwen to return for weeks. Cain has had her out hunting for the rest of the pack from the second the Gala ended. Knowing her, she’s pissed that Vane—who she considered her trophy—got away as well.

Considering Frost’s recent escape, she’s the last person I expect to see kneeling before my sire’s throne when I walk into Court later that evening. On either side of our sire, Immy and Callie stare down dispassionately. Somehow, Bella has gotten out of being hereagain.

Immy’s eyes flick to mine, lighting briefly, and I give her a tiny nod.

I’ve spent the entire morning preparing myself, making sure I’m a blank, unfeeling slate. I can’t give Immy any cause to suspect that Draven and I have completed the thrall bond.

She lied about betraying me. I know I can’t trust her. But, still, I find myself praying that her motivations were selfish, rather than some plot devised by Cain. I want to believe that she was being genuine about wanting to rekindle our relationship, because despite it all, Imissmy sister.

Perhaps it’s naïve of me to hope that I’ll get my best friend back again. Time will tell.

“You. Lost. Them?” Cain’s hiss is deadly, and it snaps me right back to what’s transpiring with Morwen. “They were rightherein the middle of court. Inside ourhomeand you somehowlostthat trail?”

His eyes find me, still lingering by the door. Aside from my sisters, the throne room is otherwise empty, making me an easy target.

I shore up my defences even more. If he suspects about the thrall bond…

But he doesn’t call me out on it. “Evelyn, take your sister’s tongue. Then cut off her feet. She can crawl in the dirt until they return.”

If Draven is shocked by my drawing a blade and moving forwards without questioning, he doesn’t show it. Between us, the thrall bond remains steady and calm.

But Morwen shocks us all by drawing her own sword. Her eyes narrow as she stares me down.

“You want my tongue?” she spits. “Come and fucking get it.”

Morwen’s refusal to just sit back and take her punishment shocks me right out of my own false sense of calm, but I can’t hesitate. That will just end with me crawling on the ground beside her.

My middle sister hasn’t changed. She still goes straight for me with the force of a freight train without giving a thought to strategy. She’s brute strength and speed, getting in hits where she can.

Normally, I can match that strength and figure out a way around her unrelenting attacks.

I block the first strike, then the second. Dodge the third.

But not the fourth.

Morwen’s sword hacks into my side. For a second, I feel the savage impact and nothing more.

Then the burn sets in.

It starts as a sting that quickly blooms into agony. Like mine, Morwen’s sword has a blade edged with silver, so I don’t start healing immediately. Every inhale becomes a special kind of torture, and I’m forced to keep my breaths shallow as I struggle desperately not to pass out.

“Callista.”

Cain says one word and Callie leaps down from her throne, tackling Morwen from the side. Unlike me, she’s at full strength. Taking down our other sister is nothing for her. Callie pins Morwen to the tiled floor with one arm, and rakes her claws across her cheek with the other.

Blood spurts out of me at an alarming rate, but no one dares move a muscle without Cain’s say so. Callie forces our other sister’s jaw open and snatches out her tongue with a victory hiss.

---