Aella watched as her mate practically ran from the room and was mildly surprised at his reaction. She stood from the couch and walked over to the bed, sinking into it while thinking about everything that had just happened. He had almost flared up at her; she could sense it, but he had held himself back instead of doing what she had thought he would do. That was something she hadn't expected.

She had seen the way his knuckles whitened and the way his face went blank with rage. She had wanted to make him pay for locking her up, and so she had tried to coax a reaction from...