Xavier spun around. His eyes went wide, shock and disbelief tangled together, and then something fierce and bright broke through. Joy. Raw, unguarded joy. His scent, dried lavender and sun-warmed birch bark, surged sharp with it.
"You're alive?"
He rushed to me, already reaching for Hildegarde, pressing his hands to the wound to stanch the bleeding. His fingers glowed faintly with the old wolf-healing warmth, and Hildegarde's ragged sobs softened to hiccups against my chest.
The commotion reached the high dais. Luna Consort Rosalind Nighthollow tilted her head, her gaze drifting down toward the disturbance.
"Who was that woman just now? Her voice sounds so familiar."
Finn stepped forward and bowed low, his answer quick and smooth:
"Your Grace, it's nothing. Just a servant from the den. A packless attendant, that's all."
That was when I laughed. A short, cold sound. I pulled the mating bond certificate from my sleeve and dropped to my knees.
"Your Grace. I am no attendant. I am Narelle Silvercrest, Alpha-blooded daughter of the Silvercrest Pack. And I am here to beg your permission for a formal bond dissolution from Finn Thornwood, Alpha of the Thornwood Pack."
