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Shepherd nodded and crooked his fingers "You have my word"

"Maryanne Cauley"

There was a flash of insight, aof the eyes The Alpha nodded in understanding—the slippery traitor… Maryanne Cauley, a prisoner who'd once sworn her allegiance to hie for safe haven in the Undercroft, was the one who had helped Claire free her Oas

Claire took a step towards total abase the Gods when the march to Shepherd did not shatter the ice and suck her down The weight of her cold fingers she set in his, not returning the sulfed hers Shepherd touched her face, and she instinctively jerked ahen the heat of his palm cupped her cheek

His large thumb brushed away the line of tears, he knew she was in pain by the burden of the intensifying bond clawing its way past her resistance

Intense, overexcited, he reached for her, unwilling to wait another ht the clai tothat had carried her to the ice She did not want to be Claire anymore, oblivion had become her arness was her pride… then she remembered she had no pride She had lost it all the day she started to care for theher in his arms

As if he knew her thoughts, he gripped her a bit tighter to his chest and gloated "Forty-three lives, Claire"

Her eyes screwed shut at his use of her nauish at theher She lost the war—Claire felt sorief she had been unable to feel that day, and everything shatteredHer pick-up had been organized withloudly in arrogant triuh the subterranean halls towards his den

It see Claire; she was past comfort as the worm inside her swelled, each breath hurt, corrupted and hated

The sound of the deadbolt, the finality of the ht so very hard not to shohat she was feeling—not to give hi he had the power to hurt her again But he wouldn't stop touching, he even pried her fingers froht rub the heat of his palm where she was so very clearly pained

Shepherd encouraged theat her insides "We will start afresh," he crooned, his huge hands pulling at the layers she was dressed in, stripping her clothing just as he stripped away her freedom, "my little mate"

Green eyes flew open, full of outrage, full of all the seething vehemence she should have screamed at hi to ust ivable I HATE YOU!"

Even as she screaainst him, he stroked, he hushed

Claire ranted, the strearey walls, until screa sobs She cried so very hard she could hardly draw breath She begged hi her from the ice, and only found the softness of the reat hands were everywhere, tracing the scrapes, the stitches in her knee, exploring every bruise, until Shepherd co possessive stroke of his fingertips along the outline of his still healing clai marks

There seeony of the cancerous tether inside her, it twisted like an outraged alligator, tearing out her organs She had her eyes shut tight, trying to will it all away, until naked lips came to her chest, to the very spot that had been so corrupted Claire began to fight back, shrieking like a banshee There was no stopping his penetration, or the throaty groan that escaped hi his cock Shepherd suckled her breasts, ran his teeth lightly over her neck, tried to kiss herher flailing

The sounds fro of her brokenhearted wails were those of a thirsty ht velvet channel as he thrust his cock lifted him closer to that unattainable heaven; to freedoain, trapped and tied, and he would take her any way he could—even if she hated him, even if she was only a slave to the bond Because he needed her