Five Mates Let Me Burn, So I Rejected Them All novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: The Fall

"She wasn't here," Nolan said.

He said it loudly, so the whole yard could hear.

Dahlia's hand stayed on Ronan's sleeve.

"Nolan," she said softly. "You've hit your head."

"I rode to Larkspur at nine," Nolan said. "I stood at her door. She was in her kitchen making tea. Then I rode back here with her, and I watched her carry a bucket."

"He's confused."

"I'm not." Nolan turned toward the warden. "The torch came from the east side of the yard, where Ronan's men were. I saw the man who threw it."

Forty warriors looked at their boots.

One of them, a thick-necked boy with a singed beard, took a step back.

"Him," Nolan said.

The boy went white.

"He told me to," he blurted. "The Alpha said burn it."

"I said no such thing," Ronan said, and then he stopped.

"Not in words," he said slowly. "Not tonight. But I said it earlier, in front of all of you, and I meant it."

The yard was silent.

"Let her go," Ronan said to the warden. "She didn't do it. My men did."

The warden lowered his hand.

Dahlia let go of Ronan's sleeve.

I rubbed my wrists, though nobody had touched them.

"Thank you, Alpha," I said. "I'll send you the bill for the south wall."

Ronan stared at me.

For the first time since the temple he did not look angry.

He looked puzzled, and a little afraid.

Two nights later the Temple held its harvest ball in the great hall of Fitzalan Hall.

It was a custom older than the pack, and a rejected Luna was invited like every other woman in the kingdom.

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