The last trace of connection snapped as Kieran pulled his consciousness back from the shadow wolf. His eyes faded from pitch black to their normal amber color, and he slumped forward in his throne, breathing hard.

"Did you find her?" Elise's voice came from beside him, soft and eager to please as always.

Kieran's hands gripped the armrests so tight his knuckles turned white. "Yes," he hissed through clenched teeth. "She was there, just as my spies reported."

He could still see Laura in that thin nightgown, fighting with a fierceness that made his blood boil. And those marks... the way she'd destroyed his shadow wolf with that strange golden...