Blood Rite

As Elowen collapses from poison at the state banquet, Maelrik races her to a forbidden lunar shrine and performs a dangerous ritual using his royal Lycan blood to pull her back from death, their mating during the rite intensifying the bond to overwhelming new levels where thoughts and pain are shared. In the aftermath of her miraculous recovery they begin to piece together their next move only to face the shattering cliffhanger that Thorne himself delivered the poisoned wine under Lady Vesper's direct orders.