chapter 40

Toby rinsed out his cup and turned it upside down in the sink. He was not usually so careless. Asil’s mate had died, tortured to death by a witch who used her pain and death to gain power. For all that he found Asil irritating— especially his latest and most effective method of torment: Lauren—he’d never deliberately use Asil’s mate’s death to torment him. But more apologies would accomplish nothing. He muttered a soft plea for blessing upon the house, as his mother’s brother had taught him, and left. LAUREN was glad Toby drove this time. The icy roads gave him no apparent concern, though they slid around enough that she dug her nails into the handle conveniently located above the window of her door. He hadn’t said much to her this morning after he’d returned from consulting with the forest ranger. His eyes were distant, as if the teasing, gentle man she’d woken up with was gone. Her fault. She hadn’t expected to feel so much after she’d sent her wolf to sleep while she showered. They