The Alpha Carried Her, So the Luna Cut the Bond novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Her Price

Bram heard the knock at midnight and knew whose it was.

He had been sitting on the edge of his bed for an hour with the lamp out and his boots still on.

The Gathering was twelve hours away.

He had told the council the truth.

He would tell three packs the same truth at noon, and after that he would have no seat and no ferry.

He had made his peace with that.

He had not made his peace with her walking away from the grave without looking back.

He opened the door.

Wynne stood in the corridor in a plain grey shirt with her hair loose.

She looked at his jaw.

The bruise had gone yellow.

"It healed faster than I thought," she said.

"I'm Saltmarsh. We heal."

"Pity."

She came in and shut the door behind her.

"I said I'd name the price," she said. "For the cliff."

His mouth went dry.

"Name it."

"One night. Here. My terms."

He did not trust his voice, so he nodded.

"No bond," she said. "No mark. No promises that outlast the night."

"Those are fine."

"And no apology in the morning." She came a step closer. "You don't get to be sorry in the morning, Bram. Not for this and not for the rest. I won't have you using tonight to buy it."

"I wouldn't."

"You would. You're the kind who would."

It was true, and he said so.

"Yes."

"Then you'll keep your mouth shut about it."

"Yes."

She put her palm flat on his chest, over the place where his heart was going too hard.

"Good," she said.

He thought about his mother.

His father's bond had pulled her back across the bay four times, over a man who had done worse than lie.

Wynne had cut hers at the Stone.

She was here by her own choice, tonight, for a night.

He could do that.

He could take one night and ask for nothing after it.

Her hands went to his collar.

She undid it with a calm that did not match her breathing, and he kept still and let her.

She pushed the coat from his shoulders and it fell.

She pulled his shirt over his head and looked at him.

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