If there was ever a good time to dig a hole in the ground and bury yourself in it alive, this was it. Maddox could feel all the energy being released from Rhiannon’s body in a second, and he held his breath, because he felt it overwhelm him. Yes, from one second to the next that embrace had transformed from “holding” her to “containing” her, and the lycan wasn’t quite sure if he would be able to.

“You’re... saying... that... Aidan is...” Rhiannon couldn’t seem to breathe. Her whole nature was rebelling against it. It couldn’t be. Aidan couldn’t have betrayed her like that, Akela couldn’t have betrayed her like that after she had freed him.

“Aidan is the last son of King Caerbhall and Queen Erea,” Brennan murmured, because it was useless to keep it from her any longer. “He is the son of the traitors who murdered your entire family. Aidan Casthiel is the heir to the throne, and today is his coronation.”

Rhiannon’s partial transformation came like an explosion, and her scream would have