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onto that classification by her fingernails. Her family had lost all connections, power, and influence in the past few centuries. No member of their family had ever been influential enough to sit on the magical Council. Regardless, her parents hadn’t approved of her childhood friendship with the elder Denzell boy, Shock. But that had been okay. They understood one another after she’d discovered his secret. To gain his trust and make him feel safe, she’d told him hers. They’d been nearly inseparable for decades, and she hadn’t been surprised when he Called to her.
    Then Lucan MacTavish had looked her way, pinning her with his hot blue gaze that had seared all the way down to her soul. In that moment, the air had stopped. Her heart stuttered. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever met. And he , the nephew of a Council member, wanted her. A man so privileged, the scent of it oozed from his pores. With his deep voice and wry smile, he’d quickly charmed her out of a kiss.
    She’d fallen in love the second his lips hungrily covered hers.
    “ Oh, stop mooning,” Shock grumbled. “Or get to the part of your memories where the fucker leaves you alone in your house without special protection so Mathias can abduct and violate you. Get to the part where he loses his fucking mind instead of coming to your rescue. Where, when he finally sees you, he lets you go with barely a token protest, then brings a surrogate to the bed you once shared.”
    Anka shoved her face in her hands, wishing she could block out his words. “Shut up!”
    “ Fuck no. I’m not going to watch you turn yourself inside out for the prat who tried to mold you into his ideal woman, then didn’t bother to be your hero when you needed him.”
    Anka wanted to refute him, but nothing Shock said was wrong…at least not totally. After she and Lucan had mated, she’d taken his cue on everything. How to dress, how to behave, how to socialize. She’d done everything to be the sort of mate who made him proud. She’d never wanted him to regret her less-than-perfect bloodline. One year had slipped into decades, then into a century. She barely remembered what it was like to live a life where she wasn’t striving to please Lucan.
    Then Mathias had taken her. Afterward, she’d felt so stricken, so dirty and guilty and tainted, she’d barely been able to face her former mate, but she’d forced herself to do it so she could perform the helbresele spell and heal his mate mourning. Once done, the ease with which he’d let her walk away…she had to wonder if he was secretly relieved to be rid of the barely Privileged woman he’d shared his home and life with.
    “ Of course he is,” Shock cut in. “For fuck’s sake, if I’d been in Lucan’s position, I would have burned down the world until I found you. I would have killed anyone stupid enough to stand in my way.”
    That wasn’t idle talk from Shock. He would burn down the world for anything he believed was important, and over the last few months he’d proven over and over that he would do whatever necessary to protect and care for her.
    “ That’s right.” He wrapped his arms around her more tightly. “And what did Lucan do?”
    According to Sabelle, he lost his mind .
    None of it was important now. She couldn’t keep glancing over her shoulder and eyeing her past. She had to look ahead.
    “ That’s not what I want to talk about, Shock.”
    He peered at her with those unusual eyes, dissecting, digging into her thoughts. Anka let him. There’d be no keeping him out anyway.
    “ Oh, fuck no! You are not fighting Mathias.”
    She’d known that would be his reaction. “I don’t need your permission. You’re not my mate.”
    It was a low blow, and she regretted the words as soon as she spoke them. Face tight with anger, he grabbed her. Then her remorse seeped into him. His face softened. “A few words will fix that, Anka. Speak the Binding to me. I’ve waited over a century for