Page 111 of Exiled Heir

Don’t, Basil hissed in my ear.Unless you want to lose that arm. Actually, go ahead. You’re going to be easier to eat without limbs anyway.

I stepped back, walking to the doorway of the bathroom. Water dripped from Cade’s chin, but his eyes were screwed shut, both hands braced on the edge of the bathroom counter.

“What do you mean they aren’t there?” I asked. “I saw Isaac lock them in myself.”

“I thought it would be a good trap. While you were hunting, I’ve spent the past few hours creating an alternate prison for them. He locked the door, but no one else knows they aren’t there. If someone opens the door…”

“The mousetrap snaps closed?” I asked.

“Exactly.” Cade blinked open his eyes, staring at me blearily in the mirror.

“That’s a lot of magic,” I said carefully. “Are you sure you aren’t overdoing it?”

Cade laughed, a low, harsh sound. “Power is one thing I have to spare.”

“You say that now, but I once had a friend who was ’roided out to his gills. He swore he could lift anything as long as it fit on a barbell. He was right, up until he tried to lift a thousand pounds and crushed his larynx.”

Cade shot me a wan smile. “Good thing for both of us that I know exactly my lifting limit.”

“And that is?” I pressed.

“My dinner plate,” Cade said. “Although I can occasionally lift a breakfast tray if the servants aren’t around.”

“The pups are safe?” I asked.

“Yes.” Cade dropped his head. “For now.”

I inhaled sharply.

“They are unbonded wolves on House Bartlett territory.” Cade swallowed, eyes shut, head bowed. His arms trembled.

He didn’t have to say anything more. I knew what the consequences were. Leon had made it very clear.

“They’re kids. They didn’t know what they were doing.” I had promised them. I had forced myself onto them as their alpha. If they died…

“The war council is going to demand it. Themagesare going to demand it. It doesn’t matter that they’re kids. What matters is that we have to act. We have to treat them like the danger they are.” He opened his eyes, staring blankly at the basin in front of him. “We’ll have to question them again before they’re killed.”

I sucked in a breath. “Cade, please. I’m begging you. There has to be another way.”

Cade’s knuckles went white. “There is no other way.”

“I’ll…” My mind was blank. I had nothing to bargain with. As much as I might consider myself free, I was just as bound as any werewolf here who wore a collar. I had nothing Cade wanted.

I blinked. No, there wasonething he wanted.

“I’ll wear it.”

Cade’s head snapped up, staring at me. “What?”

“Your collar. I’ll wear it if you can think of some way to save the kids.” The words were glass in my mouth. They ate at my throat like acid. But it was the only way forward, the only way that I could see that didn’t leave me hollowed out and empty.

Cade pushed himself off the sink, a sneer pulling at his lip. “Forthem. You would wear the collar for them?”

“To save their lives.” The desperation made it come out softer than I intended. “I would do it to save their lives.”

Cade was close, staring up at me, his blond hair tousled and damp. His lip pulled back from his teeth again.

“Fine.” He pushed past me, jostling me out of the doorway. Stalking over to the bedside table, he picked up the collar and threw it at me. I caught it before it slid to the floor. “Put it on.”