Page 119 of The Path of Blood and Betrayals

I have no reservations in using my magic now. Now that I know it’s not something to fear, but coveted.

Wulf smiles wider.He knows.

“She told you,” I whisper, body locked tight with nerves. “Told you what I am.WhoI am.”

He inhales, purring as if he smells a delicious meal. Maybe he does.

Kaden sneers, glaring at the shifter as his shadows flare angrily along his back.

The air ripens with tension as his siblings unsheathe their weapons.

“I’ve known since the moment she sensed you coming. You’re someone we’ve been waiting for.” He steps closer, but Kaden blocks him, sword tip pointed at his heart. Wulf narrows his inhuman gaze on to the heir. “You would wish to risk dissolving a truce between our people over a woman?”

“I would risk my crown over that woman,” he growls, pushing further against him. “Now back off, Wulf. She’s not yours to take.”

“If I lay claim to her—” he breaks off, looking at me as if the thought just occurred to him. His teeth elongate like that of an animal, fangs and canines sharpening by the second and my pulse jumps. “Yes, aclaiming.”

My body freezes, fear icing over my neck as if a winter wind has blown on it. What does he mean toclaimme?

“I lay claim to her heart, to her body. It is my claim onto her soul.”

I stumble, looking to Kaden then to Reid’s alarmed face. Something is happening, something I don’t understand. Fee grasps at a chain around her neck, forcing it into Kaden’s hands, but he waves her off.

“So now,shifter, you cannot claim the blood summoner.” Theshadows hover, striking out against Wulf as they push him away. “For she is not yours to lay a claim on. She’smine.”

The seer’s threat comes to me.

Beware a Fae’s words.

Fee sighs, looking skyward, stricken. “Gods above.”

Wulf stands, readying to attack. I can’t tell who would win; Kaden is powerful with his magic, but Wulf is a animal in human skin. Both would be equally matched.

There’s a clanging from the front gates, a few shouts of alarm that causes both males to stop and pivot as something heavy drops into my gut. Almost like a chain.

Wulf rushes by as I pat my chest. Kaden turns back to me, eyes so intense, I nearly step away. “What did the seer say?”

“What did youdo?” I ask instead, gesturing to the empty place behind him. “What doesclaimingme mean?”

Even now, I can feel something unfurling in my stomach, the weight growing. It’s a chain, pulling me toward the Dark Fae.

It’s grotesque and vile, whatever it is. It feels permanent.Unbreakable.

“Now’s not the time,” he snaps, hauling me closer, inhaling my scent. “You’reterrified. What did she say?”

“I’m terrified of you!” I exclaim, pushing against his chest. “What did you do to me? What is this?” My hand touches my chest again, feeling the constriction beneath.

This is not love. This is a claim of ownership.

He owns me.

“What does a claiming mean?” My voice wobbles, even as the voices further back shout louder. The air is turning violent, something coming to harm us.

But all I can see is the heir. Feel my heart fracturing as everything falls into place.

First Nessa. Then Tay and Nafre. Now him.

Beware the Fae’s words.