Page 15 of Blood Marked

Selene filed that away.

Later, when the meeting dissolved into posturing and polite assassination attempts masked as negotiations, she drifted toward the outer ring of the hall. She could breathe better near the columns, away from the smothering heat of wolfish stares.

“You hide it well,” came a voice at her side.

She turned slightly.

Varyn.

He stood with the casual arrogance of someone who’d never needed to fight for attention. Midnight-black hair, skin like polished bronze, and a smile that gleamed without warmth. His eyes, a deep shade of onyx, glittered like something secret.

“Hide what?” she asked lightly.

He shrugged one elegant shoulder. “The discomfort. The fear. The bite of the leash.”

Selene arched a brow. “Is that what they call political alliances now?”

His smile curved. “Oh, I like you.”

“That makes one of us.”

Varyn laughed, low and smooth. “Come now. You wound me, my lady. I’m simply admiring the rarest creature in this whole bloody castle.”

“And what’s that?”

“Something unpredictable.” His gaze dipped slightly. “Old blood wrapped in new skin. The court thinks you’re fragile. I think you’re dangerous.”

That comment, the way he said it, took her by surprise.

He tilted his head, and something about the motion made her think of a snake scenting prey.

“You know what you are, don’t you?”

Selene’s fingers twitched at her side. “I know enough.”

“Mm.” Varyn took a slow step closer. Not too close. Just enough to make her instinctively stiffen.

“I wonder if Kael knows,” he murmured. “What you carry. What youcouldawaken, if someone showed you how.”

“And let me guess—you’re offering?”

His eyes gleamed. “I offer nothing, my lady. I only observe. But the ones who will come for you… they won’t ask. And KaelFenrir? He’s too bound by pride and prophecy to see clearly. He’ll keep you on a leash and call it duty.”

Selene’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I’d rather be on a leash than curled at your feet.”

That finally made something flicker in his expression—a flash of something colder, sharper.

But it vanished quickly, replaced by another slow smile.

“Careful, Lady Morwen. Even wolves can be tamed, given the right… incentive.”

She found Kael later, in the weapons yard, shirtless and bristling with frustration as he trained with two guards. The snap of wood against wood echoed in the twilight air, each strike precise and brutal.

He didn’t look at her as she approached.

“I met your court pet today,” she said by way of greeting.

Kael didn’t pause. “Which one?”

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