She said it the way someone might comment on the weather....casual, conversational and absolutely serious and Nicholas felt every wolf behind him tense.
"You can't have her," Nicholas said, and his voice did not waver.
Victoria tilted her head slightly, studying him. "Can't? Or won't?"
"Both."
"Interesting." Victoria stood slowly and the chair beneath her simply dissolved, the spider webs unraveling and disappearing into nothing. "You know what I'm capable of, Nicholas. You know I could reduce this entire territory to ash with a thought. And yet you stand there and tell me I can't have my own blood?"
"She's our mate," Nicholas said.
"She's MY NIECE!" Victoria's composure cracked for just a moment, her voice rising, and the air around her shimmered with power. "She's the last family I have. The last piece of my sister. And you've CLAIMED her like she's property to be owned!"
