Dire Bound (The Wolves of Ruin, #1)

by Sable Sorensen

“Who moved you to your own quarters when someone tried to kill you in the night? Me!” He thuds a fist against his chest. “Who has been training you and strengthening you at every turn? Me!” He moved me to my own quarters? I cannot believe Killian took credit for that… although, of course I can.

I knew it was him

“Do you know how hard it was to see you with him?”

“Do you have any idea what it felt like to watch you at the Forging Ball in the dress I picked for you”—What?!—“swirling in your lover’s arms and bowing to his traitor father?”

Stark’s never looked so… open before. That dress. That dress that was so damn perfect for me. That made my heart sing. Fuck, I thanked Killian for it. Stark picked my dress. I can’t shake that. Stark picked my dress.

“Stark—before the Ascent, you came through the city. There was a man, a deserter…” The man that Stark and Cratos tore apart before the public. The man who threatened me at my fight the night before. Stark lifts his chin. “Yes,” he says simply. Yes, he killed him because the man threatened me. Which means Stark was there that night, watching me fight, somewhere in the crowd.

He was there the whole time

When she isn’t trying to hide it, it lingers deep in my mind. Quiet but aching. And Stark felt this the entire time.

Everything I thought I knew about him has been turned on its head.

“Give me the word and I’ll tear out his throat.

Mine. My psycho asshole. My bloodthirsty killer.

“You’re worried?” He scoffs. “Never. You are the danger. Any person who doesn’t see that deserves what’s coming to them.”

For some reason, I believe him without a shadow of a doubt, even though those words are coming from the mouth of a man I once thought was my greatest enemy.

He’s still wearing his father’s sword—no, my sword—at his hip.

The nickname almost makes me break my facade. Kitten. I see what he was doing, now. To the rest of the world, I was a fearsome alley cat, but to him… only a pathetic little kitten.

I knew i hated the nickname for a reasn

I wish I never had to say those words. Mother wasn’t mad. Neither were all the women in my family before her. The visions, the voices… all of it was just our unfulfilled birthright screaming, clawing to the surface.

His eyes widen, but he’s too slow. I’ve trained for this.

“What, you were hoping it was just a coincidence that the current crown prince and the heir to the original royal line happened to meet in a market one day and end up in a relationship?”

“You have to know, I didn’t feel good about that. But if you were going to be my queen, her powers needed to pass to you. It was her time.” Powers.

I fucking knew he killed hr

This is what Killian’s done to me. Sunk his fangs deep, right to the heart of me. Stolen my crown, stolen my powers. And now he won’t let go.

She’s free. She’s here. She’s mine.

“You will never be alone, Saela.” She exhales shakily, clutching me. “We’re her daughters,” she says. “We’re strong.” “Always,” I confirm.

All that bloodshed. All those lives. For nothing.

My stomach drops at the horrifying sight in front of me. Saela’s fallen.

I knew it

A scream tears from me that rips my throat raw. Killian’s words echo through my head. As a parting gift, I’ve left you a little surprise.

I am Meryn Sturmfrost, Queen of Nocturna, and I will use the twisting dark in my bones and my blood to hunt Killian Valtiere to the ends of the earth.