When she should be in my bed.

It’s the moon’s influence on me that makes the last part growl through my mind. But nothing good can come of a lone woman being coerced out alone into the streets. “Who is she meeting, exactly?”

Gwenna hesitates. “An old friend.”

“Who’s blackmailing her into going out alone at night?”

She hesitates again, and then falls silent. Whatever she knows, she doesn’t want to speak of. “You have to understand,” Gwenna says after a long, long pause. “No one has ever looked out for Aspeth. She’s the one who thinks she has to protect everyone else. Tonight is no different.”

“Who’s she protecting?” I demand.

Gwenna doesn’t answer. “Aspeth has never had anyone who cared for her. Not enough to look out for her. Not enough to say ‘No, Aspeth, that’s a terrible idea. You can’t meet a man at midnight—’ ”

“So it’s a man?” Hot, possessive fury coils in my guts. Has she lied to me about everything? “An old lover?”

Gwenna shakes her head again. “I can’t say more. I’m sorry. I can’t betray Aspeth.”

Her loyalty to her friend should please me, but it only heightens my frustration. I want to shake the answers out of her. Just shake her and shake her until the truth drops from her like leaves falling from a tree. But she’s clearly doing what she thinks is best for Aspeth, and I can’t hate that, as much as I’d like to. Loyalty amongst a Five should be praised. The last few days wouldn’t have been such a shit show if the Five we were rescuing had given a damn about one another.

“She always had everything growing up, except people. Her father thought that wealth was more important than affection, and her mother died young. She doesn’t have anyone except me.”

“And me.”

“And you,” she adds, but her expression is clearly doubtful. “As long as you don’t murder her tonight.”

I give her a tight smile. “I need my wife alive.”

She tugs on the blanket at her shoulders again. “I know you don’t understand and I know I’m only giving you half-arsed answers, but just trust me when I say she’s doing this because she thinks it’s the right thing to do. I know Aspeth pretends like she has it all under control, but in her heart, she’s a people pleaser. Just because she hasn’t had anyone love her back doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to be loved. Do you see?”

I’m starting to. I’ve suspected all along that Aspeth was some rich merchant’s headstrong daughter. A fuller picture is forming in my mind—of a neglected daughter who had everything but affection, and the only one who cared for her is a maid who felt sorry for her. Whatever is going on tonight is tied to her past, something she feels she has to do in order to please or protect those she loves.

I’m still fucking furious, but it’s making sense.

With a frustrated tug on my nose ring, I shake my head. “Just tell me where she went and I’ll retrieve her.”

A short time later, I’m stomping wearily through the streets of Vastwarren. At this time of night there’s nothing but troublemakers and drunks out. Luckily they know not to mess with a Taurian on a mission. The scowl on my face probably could stop a parade in its tracks. I find the inn after wandering through a sketchy district and glaring up at each sign as I pass. The area isn’t great—but what part of Vastwarren is?—and I grow more and more annoyed by the moment that Aspeth thinks it’s fine for her to wander around alone after dark with beggars and thieves.

Foolish, foolish human female. Does she think she’s invulnerable? Gwenna is loyal to her but that only means she’s helping Aspeth with her ridiculous schemes. I’m going to put a stop to this. I’m going to put Aspeth over my knee and paddle her bouncy, delightful bottom to teach her a lesson.

But then I start thinking about smacking her arse and how it would jiggle and the noises she would make, and I bite back a groan. I can feel my knot rising, a ring of tightness at the base of my cock that feels like a vise. It’s affecting my thoughts, because now I want to find Aspeth—not to punish her but to pleasure her.

Well, maybe a little fun punishment, too.

Adjusting my cock, I glare at all the drunks loitering around the entrance of the bar. There are a few men off to one side wearing militia uniforms of some unimportant holder, but I ignore them. Every soldier needs to get his throat wet. I’m looking for Aspeth…and whoever had the poor judgment to blackmail her.

My magical fist clenches, and I wonder idly which one hurts more when I throat-punch someone, the real fist or the fake one.

I step inside and scan the place, noting that there’s only one other Taurian in the room, and he’s by the fire with a human male in his lap. There aren’t a lot of females of any race, either. I see a wench behind the bar, slicing onions, and other than that, nothing but human men as far as the eye can see. It’s crowded in here, elbow to elbow, and I’m tempted to wade in and just start shoving people aside until I find Aspeth.

If someone’s harmed her…

“Oh, look,” calls out a bright, familiar voice. “You’re just in time.”

Then Aspeth is in front of me, her expression cheery as she pushes through the crowd. She’s wearing her cloak over a dress, her hair is mussed, and her cheeks are flushed from the heat of the bar. Am I imagining things, or are her eyes shining with relief? She tucks her arm into the crook of mine and steers me toward the door. “It’s late and you’re here to see me home, right?”

I know what she’s up to. She’s leading me away from whoever it was that she met in this bar. I’m not an idiot. I ignore her tugs on my arm as she tries to drag me outside, pausing to look around at the crowded room again. Everyone is staring at us, but I don’t know if it’s because a human woman is leaving with a Taurian or if there’s something else at play. I wait for one man in particular to sack up, to separate himself from the crowd and announce that I can’t leave with his woman, but after a moment, they all turn back to their drinks.

No one’s going to admit that they were here with Aspeth. I glance down at my wife’s overbright smile and realize she’s not going to tell me anything, either.

The urge to spank her grows stronger by the moment. Scowling, I go with her when she tugs on my arm this time.

We’re in the street and heading away from the tavern before Aspeth looks up at me. “You’re growling.”

Am I? It’s probably because I hate this. I hate this place full of men who probably wouldn’t think twice about groping my wife. I hate that she’s put herself in this situation. I hate that no one’s telling me anything.

So aye, I’m probably gonna growl for a while. Anyone would in my situation. “You want to tell me what was going on in there?”

She blinks up at me. “Not really?”

It just makes my temper flare. I jerk to a stop in the street and resist the second urge to shake a woman this night. I grab Aspeth by the shoulders tightly. “You foolish woman. Why are you out here alone in the middle of the night? Don’t you know it’s not safe?”

Her expression grows uneasy. “I know.”

“Then why? Why?” When she doesn’t answer, my tail slaps against my thigh, as furious as I am. “Why were you meeting a man out here?”

Her brows furrow together. “I didn’t say I was meeting a man—”

“Why would you meet a woman at a pub in Vastwarren? At midnight?” I gesture back at the bar, furious, because I remember Gwenna’s words about how Aspeth had no choice in the matter. “Is someone blackmailing you?” Another thought blisters through my mind and fills me with an incoherent rage. “Did someone touch you?”

I might have to go back and murder everyone in the bar.

There must be something unhinged in my gaze as she reaches up and pats my chest. “I’m fine, Hawk. Truly, I do appreciate your concern, but I promise you that no one has molested me. Everyone was very polite and focused upon their drinks.”