Extras!

No chapter today, lovely readers! :( But here's some CUT snippets, stuff deemed not worthy of keeping in, so keep that in mind, and notes to myself!

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HE ASKS HER IF SHE FINDS HIM REVOLTING, SHE ONLY SAYS, “I would like to bathe.”
He is delighted by her spiciness. 


“We can help each other, then,” Sona says smartly, making Taos’s eyes flash with interest. “Help me find the killer.”
“I already know the killer,” Taos purred.
“What?”
“Easy to figure out, based on the songbird’s tale. If I tell you—”
“Fine, don’t tell me—”
“Sona,” Arden snaps/warns.
“—either way, you’ll help me find them.”


“So we may act on that information however we wish after we fulfill our own ends of the agreement.”
Yes was the honest answer. She paused too long.
 “What if I promise to kill the killer for you?”
Sona stared. “How would that benefit me? I never said I wanted the killer dead.

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sona had extra reason to hate Redbone and Taos—he put a wedge between her and Conri that led to their separation


She asks about the hole in the ceiling; he tells her about the blood moon

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ADD SOMETHING ABOUT HOW SHE/HER HAIR IS STILL WET, though the sun was warm


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[Sona explains it’s not poisonous to other flowers, so it can blend in with literally anything else.]

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They tie another armband around Arden’s bicep, this one made of canine teeth. “To mark that you are a guest but untrustworthy.”

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Arden blinked, but Sona said, “Remember that deal we made, Taos?”
His name slipped through and she regretted it before he purred, “I like how my name sounds from between your lips.”
Arden snarled, lurching forward a step, but Sona put herself between the two males just as Taos held back his Epsilon with a hand, clearly enjoying every second of this. “Please refrain from provoking each other, for goddess’ sake,” she sighed irritably. 
“We’ve made many deals in many hours, Mistress Mai. To which one do you wish to add conditions?”
LOOK AT ALL THEIR DEALS]
“Yes,” she says carefully. “You said you won’t hurt Arden—”
“I said I won’t kill him. Specifics, trinket.”
“Fine. My first condition is that we add ‘not hurting’ him to that. No one touches him. In return—”
“He will make himself useful. He did yesterday by being a [housekeeper].”

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“my sister is a hedonist”


dog rose - pleasure and pain


“i prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery”

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my letting you see Roshan.”
Sona blinked. “Really?!”
“Yes really,” he said, unsmiling. “But in return we talk about our engagement. Right now.”



“Sona?”
She whirled around to see Arden standing on the threshold limned in fading orange sunlight. Oh gods, she’d never seen such heartbreak before.
It didn’t last long, because he was already walking away.
“Arden, wait!” she cried desperately. Taos let her chase after her friend even when he growled, “Don’t bother.”
She caught up to him in the center of the empty street, fingers barely grasping his shirtsleeve. “Arden! Arden, please—”
He ripped free and spun, and she forgot how much taller he was, so when he did, she was met with his chest instead of his face that was warped in a snarl she’d never seen before on him. 
“Did you forget about me so easily?!” Arden roared.
She was torn between defensiveness and hurt. “Of course not! You’re my best friend—”
“But only ever that,” he said coldly. The green of his eyes were colored chips of glass, his bared teeth thick like his wolf form’s. “I thought it would be enough to keep you from falling for our worst enemy.” 
“I haven’t fallen for him! The bastard just—”
“He’s fallen for you, clearly. He looks at you like—like he wants to devour you—” Arden cut himself off, disgusted by the words and mental image. It formed in Sona’s mind and she recoiled at it. “Never mind. I just wanted to see you and Cerise finally allowed, because you weren’t coming to find me.”
Her brow knitted. That short sentence was a lot to unpack. “Taos wouldn’t let me, either.  If I could have, I’d find you in a heartbeat.”
Arden’s gaze softened at her equally soft words, and for a moment she was hopeful that he would believe her, and like all arguments they’d had over the years—very few—they would simply laugh it off and their bond would only become stronger. 
But something had changed in him. He seemed guarded and untrusting.
His jaw clenched. “But did you try?”
She couldn’t bear to tell the truth; that no, she hadn’t. But she convinced herself that he was better off not with her because of her new routine. It sounded cruel, but he would only be in the way and it would only anger Taos. She wanted to protect Arden. 
She opened her mouth, but he interrupted, “So you really don’t love Conri anymore?”
That truth she could tell. “No.”
“What happened at the border?”
Sona’s stomach sank. “No one told you?”
“Tell me what?” he asked slowly, narrowing his gaze.
“That,” announced Taos loudly, swaggering toward them with his typical wicked grin, “to save the two of you from death by death, Mistress Sona Mai has agreed to marry me and become my Luna.”
Even in times like these, Sona knew Arden kept a level head…even if the war between trying to listen to reason and anger was evident in his strained voice.
“You’re marrying him to save us?”
Sona saw Taos’ smile tighten, irritated that Arden wasn’t giving the response he wanted. But Arden wasn’t explosive or jealous. 
“Yes, and for only that. To protect you, my grandfather, and Raff. If I don’t—”
“My sister hasn’t caught you up on the most recent events, has she?” interrupted Taos. 
Arden refused to look at the Alpha. “On what?”
She already knew it would be a test of speed to answer before Taos did. “Conri’s going to force us into a trial. He doesn’t care about us anymore, Arden. Vallea’s pregnant and he’s taken control of Moonvalley.”

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Thanks for your patience and understanding! <3