"I've got you, fierce kitten."

Lucian, who was standing with Madeline but had his eyes on Ave the whole time, gritted his teeth when she accepted to dance with Aaron in advance. If he wasn't so hellbent on protecting her from his enemy in the hall, nothing in this world would have been strong enough to stop him from taking his claim right next to her and marking his territory with her.

He watched as she smiled and laughed at something Aaron, that annoying bastard, must have said to her. The happier she looked in his presence, the angrier Lucian felt. Had she ever laughed like that with him since she'd come here? Regardless of whether she had or not, Lucian didn't like seeing her laugh with any male who wasn't him.