Chapter 22: Collared

Nobody spoke.

Ingrid stood on the snow in her white dress, and she didn't wipe her face or look for Gunnar.

She looked at me.

"You want it said out loud," she said. "Fine. Say it to everyone."

She turned toward the ranks and lifted her chin.

"I was nineteen the first time I filed Gunnar's tax receipts. I was twenty-three when he asked me if I wanted to be Luna."

Her voice was clear and almost pleasant.

"He had the tincture ready. I had the dress. We waited until the Gathering because every elder was drunk and every wolf was in the hall."

"Stop," Anders said.

"I put my wrist to his mouth myself. He bit down because I told him to. He didn't know me. He didn't know where he was."

She looked at Torin.

"He asked me to stop, once, in the middle. And I didn't."

The ridge made a low sound.

Torin's hands closed, and the gold in his eyes burned.

"And the list," I said. "The scratches. The cup."

"All me." She shrugged. "Gunnar gave me the bottle. The rest I did on my own."

"You'd have killed me."

"I'd have stopped you."

Her voice cracked for the first time.

"I'm not a monster, Lin. I only wanted what you were handed at birth."

"I was handed nothing."

"You were handed everything. A wolf that could wait for you. A mate that could smell you from the doorway."

Her eyes were wet now.

"I had to buy every inch."

"You could have asked me for anything," I said.

"I know."

"I would have given you my seat at the table. I would have given you the whole guest list."

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