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that hem by suppertime, Martha will
ers, waterlogged and split at the knuckles, kept working t
s," I muttered, wringing out a heavy sleeve. "Let her talk. If I die
en tub. "You've been talking in riddles all week, Selena. Who dies in five
ing on a throat that felt permanently
a heavy, suffocating smell that clung to the back of your throat long after you left the wash-tubs. I, Se
rs until my knuckles bled and my knee
our head down, did your chores, and never looked an Alpha in the e
s wr
, but you cannot wash away
pack, a traito
n I had given my youth, my loyalty, and my bleeding heart to. Alpha Ronan. I remember the cold steel of the execution
front of my face. "You're spacing out again. If Martha catches you zoning out whil
hantom images of ash and steel away.
her head. "Seriously, what's got into you? It's like you're
t death, your soul lingers to scream.
noose still burns. I smell smoke. I taste copper. I hear Ronan's voice-cold, detached, and devoid of
ed o
threatens to crack my sternum. I am not just Selena, the quiet omega helpe
Are you d
ty, slapping against the wooden washbasin and sp
hazy morning light of the pack laundry shed. Standing over me was M
aving a bundle of coarse gray tunics in my face. "The Alpha's personal guards are arriving
, or has wool complet
y," I whispered, keepin
to the wet wood beside me. "Move it! If those uniforms aren't crisp when the delegation rides
een Martha and me with a placating smile. "We'll have them
before turning on her heel. "Keep your mouths shut and yo
e y
l years before the day Ronan would sentence me to death. Five years before I w
yet. He doesn't know my name. To him, I am nothin
actly how I pl
the shiver that crawled up my spine. My fingers trembled, n
scrubbed a stubborn stain. "Are you getting sick? If you're coming down w
rcing my fingers to steady against the roug
here could an omega go? The borderlands are crawling with rogues an
executioner's block," I muttered under my breath, though I kept
a secon
of death. It gave me the chance to rewrite the tragedy. I will not cross paths with
s, I will be miles away lost in the human tow
t the old Sele
g a sudden, strange scent on the wind pine needles, frost, and t
against my ribs l
e wasn't supposed to
catching in my throat as my e
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