"If the Alpha Prince finds out, he won't let you off."
Fenris looked at me as though I'd told a joke.
"Even now, you're still keeping up the act."
"The Alpha Prince, huh? I'll wait right here. Let's see who's going to stop me."
The two warriors were already on me. They shoved my attendant aside with a single sweep and reached for me with filthy, calloused hands. The stench of them hit me before their grip did, sour sweat and stale mead, and my wolf recoiled so violently I nearly gagged.
A scream tore from my throat. "I'm not lying! I really am the Alpha Prince's Luna!"
"No!"
The sharp rip of fur and silk split the air.
A moonstone amulet tumbled from the folds of my ceremonial furs.
It landed right at Fenris's feet. Even against the packed dirt, it glowed, faintly, stubbornly, a pale luminescence that pulsed like a second heartbeat.
The moment I saw it fall, panic clawed up my chest and my eyes stung with unshed tears. "That's the Alpha Prince's token. He gave it to me himself. It proves everything I've said is true."
The crowd exchanged uneasy glances. The glow was unmistakable. No wolf could forge moonstone light.
No one seemed sure what to do.
Fenris crouched down and studied the amulet for a long moment. The glow dimmed the instant his fingers closed around it, as though the stone itself refused his touch.
Then a cold smile cut across his lips. "Well, well, Briar Thornheart. You had the nerve to steal the Alpha Prince's personal moonstone amulet. Do you have any idea what the punishment for that is?"
My eyes went wide. "I didn't steal it. The Alpha Prince gave it to me."
That day, after Fenris had thrown my father out of the Ashclaw Den, my father collapsed from the shock and couldn't get out of bed. His wolf retreated deep inside him and refused to surface, and the Thornheart name became the laughingstock of the entire Central Territory.
The very next morning, emissaries from the Ironveil Packhouse arrived bearing this amulet and formal mating gifts.
They said the Alpha Prince had taken a liking to me and would soon come to claim me as his bonded mate.
For my father's sake, and for the Thornheart bloodline's name, I gritted my teeth and agreed.
But Fenris was convinced I'd stolen it.
"I've seen this amulet on the Alpha Prince himself. He said it was a token for his future mate. How could it possibly be in your hands?"
"Tell me. How did you get it?"