The Alpha Marshal's Regretful Annulment

Georgia Shields's throat, b

es fle

aring through her neck-a ghostly memory of teeth and claws ripping her apart. Her heart hammered

e in ragged, s

pooling around her waist. Her hand flew to her neck,

No fata

igner nightgown. The room was dim, lit by the soft, ambient glow of the c

he hea

aster bathroom. It was a sound of pure, unrestrained animalism, and it sent a

ipped towar

door of the bathro

ngton. His uniform was half-torn, his usually immaculate blond hair was a mess, and his golden

m, landing on the sleek electron

date

rse than the phantom pain, washed over her. Her stomach

nducer-a banned substance that sent a male's psyche into immediate, violent overdrive, requiring a female's soothing pheromones to stabilize. She'd slipped it

ht of m

ccept another female's touch again. So he'd swallowed his pride a

. No healing power at all. Lantis be

le's soothing pheromones just to stay sane. When a male's mental breakdown value hit 90, he began to revert-fur, fangs, claws, th

ted. They begge

to wriggle out of their contracts with her. She'd felt the sting of their rejecti

il, and sheer, vicious will. And afterward, she'd made their lives a living hell. She'

hat if you command a fleet? You still come c

the battlefield. On

m through the pa

ectacular talent she'd had for destroying everything she touched. He

icing half their lifespans just to sever the bond with her. And Lantis-her primary husband, th

cold steel. The crushing be

rcing herself bac

he night she'd burned e

life, she'd been the one who spiked his drink. But this time-this time she

s Lantis

t there was no tim

a harsh, rasping sound, each exhale a blast of hot air that seemed to raise the room's temperature. A t

d to g

o

ried to stand, but her limbs were jelly, shaking uncontrollably from the shoc

the thick, soft car

hough small,

t had just located its prey. His bloodshot eyes locked onto her form

rked, a diffi

his throat. Each syllable was a struggle ag

awled toward him, bab

the plush rug. Her eyes, wide with a terror he had never seen in them before,

r hands fumbled, grabbing a heavy velvet pillow and clutching i

n... it was wrong. Georgia Shields was a parasite, a vain, cloying creature who lived for his a

, vicious-surged through his system. He let out a choked roar of pain and fel

ned to tear the t

ing impossib

tching with distress. It was a sign of catastrophic failure-a high-tier Beastkin losing

immediately, he would die. Or worse-his mind would be

ss. Trying to soothe him would be suicide.

y pure, desperate instinct. His body craved the only other living being in th

ling but laced with a command she didn't know

in her tone, so alien coming from her, seemed to pierce thro

he room for an escape, a weapon. Anything. The door

distant chime of the elevator arriving on their floor. The memory slammed

tial eyes flicked toward the door for a single heartbe

sive four-poster bed between herself and the beast that had once been t

ied, predatory patience that made her blood

have done. She straightened her spine, looked directly into those

prey. And I am

last word, but the defian

or a single, suspended moment, something flickered in t

lun

n. The first-aid kit was there, just as she remembered. In her past life, she'd hidden it there

urrows in the hardwood floor. Bandages and antiseptic wipes scattered.

unched, his haunches lowering in a predatory crouch. S

idn't

chest in a move so reckless and unexpected that his momentum faltered. For a single heartbeat, he was stun

t was ins

d eyes widened with shock. Th

white light

unconscious on the ruined carpet, his breat

ced herself to roll away, to put distance between herself and the unconscious predator. Her entire body ached. He

tiger, then at the bru

tayed-and been caught by the reporters, h

d still run. The do

e didn

steps outside we

is the room, Meredi

rine tone. "I saw them go in

had brought them,

anicked. Fled. Been caught in the hallway, guil

this

would let the

tiger. The shattered room. The

y. She just had to le

pulled her torn nightgown a little ti